I'll Wed You In the Golden Summertime
by Leah Naberrie
Summary: It's been 5 years since Bonnie had her life tied to her best friend by a mad man. She's moved on - is planning her wedding to said best friend's ex-boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong? [Inherited from Bonnismagic] Warning for established Bamon at the start, but Bonkai endgame.
1. I'm Thinking of You All The While

**Chapter One: I'm Thinking of You All The While.**

 _Hello everyone. So this is something completely new for me. I have inherited this amazing story from the very talented Bonnismagic. I loved what she wrote and the ideas she had for this story and I hope I am able to do justice to it._

* * *

The twilight wedding had turned into a midnight massacre. Bonnie Bennet, twenty-years old, not counting her months in limbo, lay cold and dying on the floor of the barn, crippling pain wracking through her.

He sat in her line of sight, watching her with a small, evil smile on his face.

She wished she could turn her head, but she was too broken to move. She wished she could close her eyes but even now, the fear of what more he could do to her, kept them wide open and staring.

That was how her best friend found her.

"Bonnie."

Damon's voice was frantic, his face streaked with fear but his large hands were soothing as they cradled her face.

Tears of relief poured down her cheeks, the sight of him almost a balm to her pain. "Damon. He's still here. K…"

"Yoo hoo!"

Damon's head spun out of her view as he straightened to face the other man.

"I'm gonna rip your head off," he snarled.

The other man snorted. "How thick can a bloke be? I gift-wrap for you a dying Bonnie Bennett and it goes over your head like a balloon."

There is a long silence.

Fear gripped Bonnie's heart, eclipsing the pain in her lungs. "Damon?" she cried, frantic.

He was by her side again. His face was still fearful but now there was something else in it.

Guilt.

"You're OK," he said, but she always knew when he was lying.

"Damon?"

That taunting voice continued. "You don't have to do anything at all. Just walk away. Tell Elena you got here too late to save your mutual best mate. Who'll ever know except yours truly? And I'm a lot of things but I'm not a sneak. Ask my siblings. Oh wait… _I killed them all!_ "

She expected Damon to say something to that, something mocking or spiteful, angry or threatening. Something that would make it absolutely clear that the idea that he would leave her, his best friend, to die, was ridiculous.

Damon said nothing.

"Damon, please…"

He swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie."

Fresh tears flowed across her face, sliding into her hair and the floor beneath as he bent over her, and pressed his lips against her forehead. There was a time, not too long ago, when that would have sent her into the clouds. Now it only left her aching with grief.

Then she felt the whisper of footfalls, as he walked away form her.

She couldn't bite back the first sob. Or the next. They tore past her lips, out of her very soul. The pain of her broken body did not wound her as much as Damon's desertion.

What was wrong with her? Why was she so inherently unlovable?

What had she done to deserve this?

She heard footsteps approaching, and she tried to lift her head, her heart shaking with the hope that it was Damon returning.

A pair of black shoes hovered in front of her – and her heart started swelling…

And deflated at the face that filled her vision.

 _Him._

Her nemesis.

Kol Mikaelson.

But for once, the expression on his face was one she had never seen before. It was not taunting, or threatening, or plain evil.

It was confused.

"That's it? He just left you?"

Bonnie wished with all her heart that she could move her head. This _faux_ concern was the worst way he could have ever mocked her.

"You threw your chance to escape me away for this guy; bloody hell, for all you knew then you were throwing your life away and then… he leaves you? Because that doppel-floozy is taking a nap? He cares about you that little?"

"Please, just kill me," she whispered through her tears. She was cold. She was so cold.

"Why?" he asked, and now he looked irritated. "The whole point of this was that it would torture both of you. He'd keep you alive but he would always resent you for bloody Elena and you'd always be grateful for him not killing you and hating yourself for that at the same time. If I had known that he'd take one look at you, and go _adios_ …? Bollocks! He couldn't even flip a coin at least? Heads he picks you, tails he picks-"

He would never finish that sentence. One moment he was talking, his eyes wide and manic, the next his head was gone, and Damon was crouching over her, frantic as he pushed his bleeding wrist over her mouth.

"You think I was gonna leave you all alone, huh?"

Bonnie grabbed it gratefully, her head spinning, barely understanding what was even happening or what he was saying, only just knowing that she needed Damon's blood to heal her broken bones and drive away the pain that was consuming her.

He was still talking, his other hand stroking her hair gently, but she didn't hear, drinking furiously, and not stopping even when she felt warmth rush through her body, even when the knitting back of her punctured lung was almost as painful as the injury itself.

Then he was lifting her up in his arms, and she clutched at him gratefully, her eyes fixed on his face, strong and beautiful, as he carried her out of that mausoleum.

* * *

 _Next:_

 _Chapter 2: Anniversary_


	2. The Unwanted Anniversary Present

**Chapter Two. The Unwanted Anniversary Present**

 _It was dark by the time Bonnie stumbled into the glade, and her bandage had torn open. But her mind wasn't on her wound, or maybe she had become so used to brutality that she was immune to it._

 _Another kind of agony was wrecking through her. The agony of abandonment as she felt the familiar strands of magic, stirring her blood, send slow vibrations in her bones. She would have thought that after having sent her magic away, she would be unable to sense it. But she was wrong._

 _She felt the Ascension spell before she witnessed the Ascension itself._

 _Kol Mikaelson stood under the streak of light that was widening over him. Besides him was a man, a boy? Bonnie couldn't tell, could barely make out the tall figure, and dark hair as the white spread, blinding her. She could tell that he was a witch though, and that the magic was pouring out of him. She could tell when he rose his head from his concentrated gaze on the Ascendant to stare at her._

 _The last thing she saw before the white blinded her were gray-blue eyes wide with shock. Then they were gone. Kol and the stranger._

 _And she was all alone._

* * *

She woke up shivering, memories of the nightmare still clinging to her mind like cobwebs and she shook them off impatiently.

She glanced at the empty space beside her. He had risen early again. Practice, he said. She smiled indulgently, as she automatically reached for her phone.

"Witchy. Pancakes are in the oven. Love, D."

"I hate pancakes," she groaned.

She scrolled down to the next message and burst out laughing.

"I know."

She was grinning as she skipped to her Calendar to remind herself of all her appointments, when her eyes spotted the date and her smile froze on her face.

May 10, 2017.

5 years later and the date still had power over her.

For a moment, she just sat on her bed, paralyzed, torn between two equally powerful urges. The first was to rush outside and make sure that she was not trapped in a repeating day in a Prison World. That she was alive, and surrounded by people and other living things.

The second urge was to crawl into her bed, and lie down and sleep through the day, and escape from the memories that had never quite stopped haunting her.

She never got round to deciding what to do because the decision was taken from her. The doorbell rang. Once. Twice. So insistently, that irritation shook her out of her stupor and she went marching to the front door.

"This had better be g-" she started, and then froze.

Lucy Bennett stood at the other side of the door, a small bag beside her on the floor.

"Hi, coz. Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Lucy, this is not a very good time…"

"Yeah, I heard. You've got something huge coming up. Good thing I check Facebook once in a while or I'd never have heard. I guess my invite got lost in the mail, right?"

Bonnie had the good grace to blush. The two women sat on either side of the coffee table, studying each other. Bonnie took in her cousin's slightly rumpled tee and soft jeans, her windswept hair and over-sharp gaze. The last time they had been in the same town had been years ago, when they battled the Armory. Lucy looked just as immaculate now as she had then.

"Had a nice trip?" Bonnie asked, refusing to rise to the bait.

Lucy smiled thinly. "Can we skip the pleasantries and go straight to the part where you tell me what the hell you're thinking?"

Bonnie clenched her fists, but kept her face as neutral as possible. "Excuse me? Since when do I justify my actions to you?"

"Since you started making increasingly stupid decisions. But of all the stunts you've pulled these past few years, Bonnie Bennett, this one takes the cake."

Bonnie took a deep breath, determined to stay calm. "If you drove all the way to tell me this, then I'm sorry you've wasted your time. Now if you don't mind, I have a dress fitting…"

"I am not leaving here until you tell me exactly why you're marrying this… this…"

"This _man_ that I love," Bonnie said sharply. "And that's your answer right there. I love him. He loves me."

"Man." Lucy scoffed. "How's that going to work exactly? What's going to happen in five years? Fifteen? Fifty? What's the plan for children? Is he going to allow you to artificially inseminate or can his ego not stand raising some other sperm donor's kids?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but we have a plan for that."

"What kind of plan could a witch possibly have for marrying a blood-sucker?"

"We have the-"

She clamped her jaw shut, almost biting off her own tongue in her haste to stop her words. She glared at her cousin, all her intentions to hold her temper in check gone.

"We don't have anything further to say to each other! Get out of my house!"

But it was too late. Lucy rose to her feet, staring down at Bonnie like if the younger woman had morphed into a monster.

"You have the Cure, don't you?"

Bonnie felt her heart sink, but she stayed silent.

Lucy scoffed, disbelieving, as she took a few paces away, then back, her arms akimbo as she glared down at her cousin.

"Are you out of your mind? _You're giving the Cure to Damon Salvatore?_ "

Bonnie jumped to her feet. "Be quiet! Unless you want the whole town to hear, then go ahead and yell as much as you can."

Lucy looked angry enough to strike and Bonnie felt her magic rush to her skin, ready for it.

Lucy must have felt it too because she took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm herself down.

"You found the Cure. And you don't give it to your own mother but to the monster who turned her!" She whispered venomously.

"She didn't want it. I asked her, and she told me how adjusted she was as a vampire-"

"You did? You told her you had _the Cure_ and she said no."

"She said she was-"

" _Did you tell her you have the Cure, Bonnie?_ "

Bonnie was silent, and she turned her face away so she couldn't quite meet the perceptive accusation in Lucy's eyes.

"You… you…" Lucy whispered. "You didn't tell her at all, did you? Just fished around, heard what would make you feel better then offered the Cure to the serial killer slash rapist who-"

"Watch your mouth, Lucy! This is his house!"

"This is your house, Bonnie. He crashes here to make booty calls more conven-"

The slap was a few inches from Lucy's face when she grabbed Bonnie's hand, stopping it. Her grip was hard, punishing and she didn't let go until a shock like fire rattled her bones, the ready magic in Bonnie's blood lashing out.

Lucy stepped back, dropping Bonnie's hand with a yell.

"I won't have you insulting me or my fiancé in our home!" Bonnie hissed.

"He turned your mother, Bonnie. My cousin!"

Bonnie looked away. "That was a long time ago, and he didn't have a choice."

Lucy mouthed the words back at her, shock apparently swallowing her voice. She shook her head disbelievingly.

"He didn't have a choice because Elena Gilbert's life was on the line. The same Elena Gilbert whose life yours is still linked to. Lord! How many kinds of fucked up is this that you two have gone from sharing one life, to sharing the same man?"

Bonnie crossed her arms, and looked her cousin dead in the eye. "I'm never going to see Elena again. Nor she me. I love her. But I also love him. And she asked him to be happy."

"With _you_? Her best friend?"

"I'm _his_ best friend, too, and he loves me. He can't help what he feels and neither can I. We tried to fight it but we only hurt each other more. It's better this way."

"So how's Elena going to feel when she wakes up and finds her best friend and her boyfriend shared a life together and are probably both dead?"

"Are you Elena's cousin or mine, Lucy?" Bonnie cried.

Lucy raised her hands to her face, all but growling in frustration. "I am yours, of course I am yours, Bonnie! I am trying to make you see reason!"

"By throwing my fiancé's ex in my face?"

"By making you open your eyes. The only reason why you and Damon have any kind of relationship now is because Elena is not around."

That was the last straw. "Get out, Lucy! Just get out!"

And as she yelled, so did her magic, whipping a small current through the room and sending her cousin hurtling across the room until her back slammed against the door. A second later, her bag went hurtling into her.

Lucy sank onto the floor. Her eyes were closed.

It took Bonnie a moment, for her heart to stop pounding, her rage to calm down with the wind, and for remorse to send her rushing to Lucy's side.

"Lucy? Oh my god, are you OK?"

Lucy's eyes opened slowly. She moaned a little.

"I'll call 911," Bonnie gasped, reaching for her phone.

Lucy's hand stretched out weakly and she grabbed the phone switching it off. "No."

"Lucy, I-"

"I can heal myself, B."

And she did, slowly, her soft chanting sending a soothing echo through Bonnie's own body.

By the time, Lucy was getting slowly to her feet, Bonnie's rage had completely dissipated, leaving only sadness.

"I still think you should get yourself checked out. Your head hit-"

"I'll be fine," Lucy said coldly. "Worry more about yourself. What this love of yours has turned you to."

"Damon makes me a better person, Lucy," Bonnie said tiredly. "A stronger person. You don't know him, and you've never really known me."

For a long moment, the two cousins just stared at each other sadly.

Lucy finally heaved a long sigh. "No, I don't think I do know you." But resolve filled her eyes. "But _I know Damon Salvatore_. I'm not going to let you make this mistake."

Apprehension filled Bonnie. "Don't get into this, Lucy. I swear if you ruin my relationship with Damon, if you do anything to stop me from getting married to him, I will _never_ forgive you."

Lucy smiled sadly. "That is a risk I'm willing to take."

Before Bonnie could think of a suitable enough threat, she had turned around and walked out, shutting the door firmly behind her.

It took everything inside Bonnie not to rush after her, yelling out threats. Instead she rushed back to her phone and pressed the first number on her speed dial.

"Hey, BB, what's up? I'm stripper-shopping for the Bachelor's Party-"

"Come home, Damon. Come home now!"

His lazy teasing drawl changed abruptly into a serious one. "Bonnie, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Lucy was here and she said-"

"Your cousin Lucy? What could she…?"

"She hates you, Damon. She wants to stop the wedding."

There was a pause on his end while Bonnie waited with baited breath. Then she heard something incredible.

Damon laughing.

 _"Damon!"_

"I'm sorry, Bonnie!" he said between chuckles. "I thought the Originals had risen from the dead or worse the way you were talking."

"This is serious."

"No, B. You falling back into a Prison World is serious."

Shivers ran down Bonnie's spine at his casual words.

"You having some family squabble with your cousin is no big deal. So Lucy hates me. Perfect. We've finally solved Caroline's and Matt's seating arrangements."

"Damon, she sounded really mad. She sounded…"

"You know what will cheer you up? Come over and pick strippers with me."

"Be serious!"

"I am being serious. Come on, Bonnie. You wanna stay in that house and brood all day, or you wanna have a good time?"

She closed her eyes as she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself from the urge to yell at him. And immediately the darkness behind her lid was filled with white letters and numbers, hurtling into the abyss.

May 10, 2017.

May 10, 1994.

 _May 10._

 _ **May 10.**_

It didn't take much to make up her mind.

* * *

Damon was equal opportunity about the strippers and they auditioned male and female applicants for both their parties. Stefan played wingman for both of them since none of Bonnie's friends jumped at the idea when she texted them to come over.

Which turned out to be a good thing. On her fiancé's insistence, Bonnie demonstrated the proper way to give a lap dance to some of his candidates, and Damon – on no one's insistence – did a small strip tease for the benefit of her, and both the male and the female strippers. It was all raunchy good fun, maybe a bit too raunchy for Bonnie's taste but she had learned to appreciate Damon's peculiar sense of humour.

By the time they got home, they were so turned on that they barely made it to the bedroom on time.

Bonnie was all but buried into the silk sheets, as he pummelled into her, moaning. By the time her own orgasm was done, she had mostly forgotten about the dismal way the day started – her nightmare, Lucy's uninvited presence.

"Gosh, I'm hungry," he murmured, groaning beside her. "But I'm too spent to move."

At once, she tilted her head back, exposing her throat more. "Help yourself."

He did, eagerly, biting her for the second time that night. After he was done, he fed her from his wrist, and she lapped up his blood. It had been years since this particular ritual started and she had developed a tolerance for iron.

She won't miss this, she thought suddenly, when he became human.

That was when she remembered Lucy's presence. She frowned, hating that she remembered it at all and now it had spoiled her post-coitus bliss.

Luckily, Damon didn't notice. He had grabbed his phone and was scrolling through the messages. Bonnie thought that was a good idea, and turned hers on.

There were a couple of voice messages and she listened to them first.

The first one was from Caroline.

"Bonnie Bennett, you dragged me all the way here for the dress fitting and you didn't even show!"

 _Oh my god_ , Bonnie groaned.

"What?" Damon asked, sitting up to leave the bed.

"Missed an appointment with Care. She's going to kill me."

Damon snorted. "Not until after Vampire Martha Stewart organizes your wedding." He stretched.

"Where are you going?"

"Shower. Feel free to join me."

Bonnie hummed a noncommittal, waiting for the second message to start playing. The shower had started, when she finally heard Lucy's words.

"I've found a way to break the linking spell between you and Elena Gilbert. Once it's done, she will wake and you will both have your lives. Before you dismiss this or delete this, ask yourself if you're really prepared to spend the rest of your life wondering if you're nothing more than a consolation prize to him. At least this way, you'll know for sure just how strong and true his love for you is."

The message ended, and the automated voice took over, asking Bonnie if she wanted to erase it, or archive it, or listen to older messages.

Bonnie couldn't decide. She sat on the bed, frozen on the outside while a storm of confusion was churning inside her.

* * *

 _The dining hall in New Orleans could have been lifted from the pages of an Anne Rice nightmare. Her eyes flitted from the food on the table to her host's macabre smile._

" _Happy Thanksgiving," Kol said as he sipped the glass of red. Blood or wine, Bonnie couldn't tell._

 _Her heart skipped at his words. Had it really been that long since she had been here? Since Damon had left – sent away in a decision that Bonnie regretted more and more every-day? But she supposed he was right. Kol had always kept a better tally of their days here than she or Damon had._

" _Why did you bring me here, Kol?" Bonnie demanded._

" _It's one of my favorite holidays," he said simply. "And I wanted to tell you about my family and where else but to share it in the house that's the closest thing we've ever had to a home?"_

 _She looked around her, at their dilapidated surroundings. She could see hints of beauty between the cracks of peeling plaster, the dusty furniture and broken concrete. But most of what she saw was ruin._

 _Not unlike the man before her._

" _I know all about the Mikaelsons," Bonnie replied. "Elena and the Salvatores told me about your history."_

" _Our history, little witch," he retorted. "Your family and mine have been intertwined for a very long time." His hand reached across the table, grasping her wrist lightly, then his fingers threaded through her own. When she tried to pull away, he tightened his hold, keeping her there. "In more ways than one_ _…_ _" His voice deepened, as did his eyes._

 _Bonnie froze, acutely feeling everywhere their skin pressed together._

" _Let me go, Kol."_

" _A few months ago, you were asking – nay, begging for the opposite. Which I eagerly obliged."_

 _She did snatch her hand away then, shame making her face hot. "You promised_ _…_ _never to ever mention_ _…_ _"_

" _But that was when I thought the lady in question was asking for privacy. Not when I thought you were merely sharpening the knife – nay, dagger – to stab into my back. Use them and dump them, as the saying goes. Only in our case, it was more like – use me and stab me with a dagger."_

 _She looked up at him sharply, a warning in her gaze even as her heart pounded with the accusation. "I didn't_ _…_ _We used each other. You_ _…_ _got what you've wanted for a long time and I_ _…_ _got a way out."_

" _You forget that it was meant to be our way out. You and me, together. The Salvatore reject, if he behaved himself. But now, we're both stuck here. You without magic. I, with a broken Ascendant_ _…_ _and something else."_

" _If you say your heart, I will laugh in your face!"_

 _Kol stared at her hard, his unblinking gaze unnerving. Then he burst into laugh. "That would be hilarious, won't it?" He pointed to her plate. "Eat up, love. Remember the deal? One last meal and then we go our separate ways? Never to lay eyes on each other again?" A flicker of darkness crossed over his mirthful face. But it was gone so quick she wondered if she imagined it._

 _Later, she would realize that she had not._

 _But at the moment, with one last wary – but not wary enough – look at him, she picked up her fork and stabbed her meat, and imagined it was a white oak stake piercing through his flesh._

 _"By the by," he added, "it's been exactly six months to the say since we arrived in this wretched place." He tilted his glass to her and drew it to his lips. "Happy Anniversary, Miss Bennett."_

* * *

 **Author's Note** : Thanks again to **bonnismagic** for letting me finish/rewrite this amazing story of hers. And thanks so much readers for the outpouring of support and confidence you've sent my way. I was half-afraid that some (a lot lol!) of readers would be resentful of the change in writers but you guys have been the best. Once again, thanks!


	3. The Proposition

**Chapter Three: The Proposition**

It was the middle of the day but Bonnie ordered the most expensive thing on the wine list and asked the waiter to leave the bottle.

Lucy raised an eyebrow as her cousin took a large gulp.

"Developed quite the tolerance, I see," she murmured, taking a dainty sip from her own glass. "Should I thank your fiancé for that?"

Rather than a response, Bonnie regarded her with a frosty glance before she took another gulp and emptied her glass. She poured herself another, eying Lucy defiantly.

Lucy's lips tightened, and she looked away. Her sharp eyes took in the fancy interior of the Italian restaurant; they shone with approval when they returned to Bonnie.

"Nice place. Does he bring you here often?"

Bonnie had asked to meet at a restaurant in the middle of Whitmore, a ritzy place that was out of her commute and her budget. Of course, she took up Lucy's offer to foot the bill and ordered the most expensive things on the menu. It was pettiness, of course. She doubted she could bring herself to eat. Her stomach was already full of butterflies and anxiety. Had been since the day she listened to Lucy's message.

She ignored her cousin's probing question and cut to the chase. "Kol Mikaelson told us that spell was unbreakable. That if we tried to find a loophole, Elena and I would both die."

"And you took the word of a madman and trickster as the gospel truth?" Lucy drawled mockingly.

"We asked the heretics to siphon off the link, and Elena's sleeping spell. They told us that it was far more complicated than that. They weren't two different spells, but one. Kol's Curse wasn't just a link that bound our lives together… It _merged_ our lives, destroyed one of our lifelines and forced Elena and I to share one lifeline. That's why Elena is in a sleeping spell. She can't truly live while I'm alive and vice versa. If they drew out the magic from the spell, the lifeline will stop sustaining us and we would _both_ die."

"And of course the same people who put the Curse on you in the first place would have no reason to lie about it, either?"

Bonnie resisted the urge to stab her cousin with her table knife. Instead, she said tightly, "The heretics had no quarrel with us. They made a deal with Kol: their freedom in exchange for the Curse. Elena and I were just…" Her mouth twisted. "Collateral damage."

Even now, the pain of Kol's vindictiveness still hurt.

She took a deep breath, and went on. "Their real enemies were the Gemini, the coven in Portland that imprisoned them. Most importantly, one of the heretics and I came… to care about each other. She couldn't have been lying to me about this."

"How can you be so sure?"

For the first time in close to twenty-four hours, a genuine smile crossed Bonnie's face and she looked away, not wanting Lucy to read the emotions on her face.

"I just know," she said softly.

Nora Hildegarde had been in love with her. She had been more invested in keeping Damon and Bonnie apart than Lucy could ever imagine. If there was anyway she could resurrect Elena, she would have – to have a chance with Bonnie.

"Hmm," Lucy said but must have decided not to press the issue. "Now, that coven -"

The food came just then, and Lucy fell silent. The two waited for the waiter to be done, then Lucy fed herself a spoonful, and hummed in appreciation over the overpriced food. As she feared, Bonnie couldn't take more than a bite and put her fork down with finality.

"Help yourself," Lucy said between mouthfuls. "It's a lot of money to go to waste."

"All the more reason to be wasteful," Bonnie said sweetly. "I'm not paying after all."

Lucy heaved a sigh. "You're acting like a child."

"What makes you…" Bonnie bit of her words, then changed her mind, and said it anyway. "You've been out of my life… for almost all my life. What the hell gives you the right to waltz in here and try to mess things up for me?"

"I left everything to help you when the Armory were hunting you down."

"You had as much to lose from the Armory as I did."

"And I stuck around. I've been an active part of your life for the past three years."

"Wow! A whole three years. Someone please give this woman a frigging prize!"

"Do you know," Lucy said in an infuriatingly calm voice as she took a slow sip of wine, "that you sound just like him now? Snarky. Asshole-ish?"

"Well, I told you yesterday: He makes me stronger."

Lucy just shook her head, a rueful look on her face.

It infuriated Bonnie even more. "You know I have a job, right? If you don't have anything important to tell me then I'm going back to it."

She made to stand up and Lucy grabbed her hand. "Bonnie. Sit. Down."

She didn't yell, but there was a sternness in the woman's voice that made Bonnie obey at once, even as much as she felt irritated with herself for doing so.

"So?" she retorted, glaring.

Lucy sighed again. "What did the heretics tell you about the coven in Portland that imprisoned them?"

"The Gemini coven. Old. Powerful. Influential. Barbaric."

"Well, the heretics would say that, won't they?" Lucy said, her voice hardening slightly.

"I doubt that. Before I ever even heard of heretics, I knew at least one Gemini witch. A warlock named Luke Parker – or at least that was what he said. But he was a user and a liar so who knows how much of that is true?"

A curious light entered Lucy's eyes. "How so?"

"He told me he was a mundane-born witch, acted like he didn't understand his powers and I…" Bonnie chuckled with residual bitterness. "I took him under my wing. Tried to 'teach' him, even though I didn't have any powers of my own as an Anchor. Turns out that he had grown up in a magical family and knew more spells by the time he was six than I did when I was sixteen. He was spying on me, waiting for the Travelers to find me..." Her voice trailed off as dark memories followed.

The Travellers _had_ found her.

* * *

 _6 years ago_

 _"Bonnie! Bonnie, are you alright?"_

 _She came to with her head still swimming with pain, her whole body on fire from the assault. She had never passed through so many. She had never had anyone pass through from the Other Side to Reality. She felt like if she had been ripped apart and reassembled badly._

 _"Bonnie?"_

 _She tried to sit up, and would have fallen back to the ground if not for the warm arms holding her up. There was no point moving much anyway, she knew she won't get past the circle. It was late evening and she was surrounded by corpses and Kol Mikaelson's ghost._

 _"Where did he…" She shuddered, remembering the dark-eyed Markos. "Where die he go?"_

 _"Bloody hell, witch, you nearly sent me bonkers…"_

 _It was only then she noticed that she was in his arms. For a moment, she just stared in confusion at what appeared to be a look of genuine distraught on Kol Mikaelson's face…_

 _Then someone shouted her name and she forced herself to sit up, shoving Kol away, as Luke Parker barreled into the room._

 _"The ward," she started in warning, to draw his attention to the circle in chalk that surrounded her. The Travellers had placed the magical shield around her, preventing her from stepping out of the circle._

 _Luke didn't pause his stride, raising his hand, his eyes glowing with magic._

 _Bonnie felt it rush at her, a blast of power so strong that it sent pin pricks all over her skin._

 _Then the white chalk disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Luke was crouched before her, peering hard at her._

 _"The Travellers," he insisted – and his voice was no longer the shy, self-deprecating tone it usually took but strong, demanding. "Where did they go? What did they do?"_

 _Bonnie blinked at him, her thoughts scattered and confused as she tried to understand why the young witchling she had been mentoring for the past year, the mundane-born wizard who struggled to light a single candle, had just broken through a powerful boundary spell like if he was literally sweeping away chalk._

 _"Not a newbie witch after all," Kol muttered behind her._

 _"You lied to me," she managed._

 _Luke didn't flinch. "I had my reasons. Now, look-"_

 _"You pretended…"_

 _He rolled his eyes. "Get over it, Bonnie! There's more at stake right now. I need to know if Markos escaped from the Other Side."_

* * *

"Bonnie?"

She snapped out of it. "Luke is the only Gemini, apart from the heretics I knew but they're supposed to be an enormously populated coven. They invented the prison worlds as a way to keep in captivity their immortal and un-killable enemies. Apart from heretics and Originals, this also included the coven of the Travelers, the last of which they eventually destroyed five years ago."

Lucy looked impressed. "You've done your homework."

Bonnie glared at her. "I _did_ try to find a way to break the Sleeping Curse from Elena. Long before I was in any position to ask a heretic for a favor. Found out it was the Gemini who invented it in the first place. I even tried to reach out to Luke – he had left Whitmore after that first year – but the bastard never returned my calls. Maybe his number had changed between when I died and came back. Maybe he's dead. It doesn't matter. Like you said, I did my homework. It's an _unbreakable_ Curse, Lucy."

"It _can_ be broken."

"Yes, yes, you've been hinting that all this while but I've still not heard how, Lucy," Bonnie said impatiently. "So spit it out right now or I will leave."

"It's not a _how_ , it's a _who_."

Bonnie froze. "Are you talking about … sacrificing someone's life?"

Lucy stared at her, her face drenched with shock. "Why would you think that?"

"You just said that it's a _who_."

"A witch _who_ can break the spell. _Who_ is powerful enough to undo it, and keep you and Elena both alive. Not _whose_ life will be sacrificed."

Bonnie let out a sigh of a relief. For a moment, it had seemed so obvious that-

"Your mind immediately jumped to that conclusion – murder, probably betrayal – and you wonder why I don't think _he's_ a bad influence on you?"

"I own my thoughts, Lucy, not him. And can you shut up about Damon for one minute?" Bonnie snapped.

"How can I? He's the third person in this conversation right now. Or are you going to look me in the eye and tell me you're not imagining Damon's reaction when you tell him you can bring Elena back?"

"I'm not going to raise his h…" Her voice faltered to a stop. Ignoring the sudden light in Lucy's eyes, she went on hastily, "I'm not going to p-put us on a w-wild goose chase that will lead nowhere. It's a waste of time that will d-derail _us_. Derail him. Set him back five years…"

"Five years less the years he spent in a coffin, waiting for Elena to wake up, waiting for _you_ to die."

The wine glass in Lucy's hand exploded. There was sudden silence in the restaurant as the other patrons turned to stare at them. Then a duo of wait-staff appeared at Lucy's elbow, and quickly took care of the mess, apologizing profusely and insincerely.

"Would you like your bill now, madam?" One asked, pointedly.

Bonnie had sunk into her seat, her face flooded with embarrassment. But Lucy merely straightened her spine and smiled sweetly at the man. "I'll let you know when we're ready. Can we have another bottle please?"

"Of course."

It took a few moments before the stares stopped. By then, Bonnie was ready to run out of the restaurant.

"Interesting choice of words," Lucy murmured.

"What?" Bonnie snapped.

"What you first started saying. _'I'm not going to raise his…'_ You meant to say _hopes_ , didn't you? _'I'm not going to raise his hopes.'_ Because that's what Elena coming back now would mean to Damon. Hope."

Bonnie said nothing.

"So you know that if he was given a choice, he'd choose her in a heartbeat."

"But he was given a choice and he chose _me_. He could have left me to die after what Kol did but he didn't. He killed Kol and he saved me. _He chose me_."

"Your life against Elena asleep for the next sixty years, give or take. That wasn't Damon choosing you. That wasn't a choice for anyone. Or it shouldn't be. Bonnie, do you really think so little of yourself?" Lucy asked sadly.

Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment, refusing to let the words hurt her. "It's not about _me._ It's about Damon. If it had been _anyone_ else, lying there dying over being apart from Elena for one day, that person would have died. You don't know how much he loved her."

"Loved. Still loves, Bonnie. He still loves her."

"He chose _me_. He's _marrying_ me. He's taking _the Cure_ for me."

"When?" Lucy pressed.

Bonnie blinked. "Our wedding is in a few w…"

"When is he taking the Cure?"

Bonnie shifted in her seat. "Soon."

"How soon?" Lucy pressed. "Before your wedding? Or will you do it like Twilight in reverse and he'll become human on your honeymoon?"

Bonnie grabbed her glass, took another large gulp. Then another. That was the problem with developing a tolerance for alcohol. Apart from the obvious damage to her liver, it took more glasses for it to kick in. And she really needed a boost to deal with Lucy's bullshit now.

"Why can't you just mind your own business?" she hissed. "I never asked you for your opinion on this."

"Of course, not," Lucy said and for the first time bitterness crept into her voice. "You only ever call on me when you need help getting out of a problem. A problem that _he_ usually got you into in the first place. Besides that, you have no use for me or your mother."

"So that's what this is about?" Bonnie asked, incredulously. "You're just butt hurt? May I remind you how you stayed out of my life for years while I floundered in Mystic Falls by myself?"

"Can I remind you how Abby came running to Mystic Falls to get you out of a jam and she ended up being turned for her trouble? Can I remind you how Sheila died helping the same vampires? Can I remind you how many times _you've died_ for these people? Mystic Falls is bad luck for us Bennetts. You think I was going to make the same mistake, Bonnie?"

Now both women were visibly angry, glaring at each other across the table. Stares were being thrown their way again, but this time, Bonnie was too angry to care.

"You're full of crap, Lucy Bennett," she hissed and pushed back her chair to stand.

Lucy grabbed her hand.

"Let go now or I swear…"

"The leader of the Gemini coven wields the power of the entire coven, living and dead, spiritual and ancestral. He can break the link between you and Elena, and save both your lives."

Bonnie yanked her hand away. "The leader of the Gemini coven, whom from everything I've heard is ruthless and ambitious and territorial, would do this just because…? You asked nicely? You told him how worried you were about your little cousin's love life and he was moved to pity? My last encounter with a Gemini witch ended with me almost dying at the hands of the Travelers. I'm not going to jump from the frying pan to the fire, Lucy. I'm not making a deal that will take from me more than I'm prepared to give."

"You're not going to give him anything. He owes _me_ a favour," Lucy said calmly. "And I'm giving up everything else that I could ask for … to help you."

Bonnie smiled sweetly. "Gee, thanks but I think I'll pass."

She stood.

The waitstaff, who had been hovering all this while, rushed to their table. Lucy glanced at them over her shoulder, heaved a loud sigh, then raised a hand and snapped her fingers as she said softly:

 _"Phaesmotos Prohibere Tempus!"_

At once, the restaurant froze. The approaching waiters froze in mid-step. The patrons who were all looking surreptitiously at the two cousins, froze in mid-stare. A waiter who was filling up a glass, stood motionless as the wine overflowed and spilled all across the table.

Everyone was at a standstill except the two Bennett witches.

Bonnie eyed her cousin warily. "Lucy…" she said warningly.

"Relax. It'll time out in a few minutes. Just enough for me to tell you a couple of home truths."

"I don't care to list-"

"The Gemini leader won't ask you for anything but _I_ want something in exchange."

Bonnie scoffed. "Now, we're getting to it."

"Offer the Cure to Abby."

Bonnie froze.

"If she says no, all well and good. If she says yes, then Damon can still drink it out of her. Five years of her life won't kill her."

Bonnie said nothing.

Lucy's eyes flashed. "He turned her because she came, on _your_ request to help _his_ brother. For fuck's sake, I shouldn't even have to ask you of this."

"You're assuming that I want this… That I want to accept this help from the Gemini."

"Now why won't you want it?" Lucy asked sweetly. "A chance to save your friend's life? Live your lives together? Why would you want to turn it down?"

Bonnie felt her heart jump. "There's no guarantee that it will work. That this leader can break the link…"

"That's not what you fear and you and I both know it."

"Lucy, you don't know-"

Lucy glanced at her watch. "The _tempus_ spell will break soon. You can run along now, and figure out what you want from life. The certainty that you're spending your life with someone who loves you and only you. Or forever wondering if you settled for scrapes from Elena Gilbert's table."

"I hate you," Bonnie whispered.

Lucy flinched, then she smiled sadly. "You hate me… because you know I'm right."

Bonnie grabbed her bag and walked out. As the door swung shut behind her, she heard the sudden sounds that told her that the spell has run its course.

If only there was such a spell to put the whirling thoughts in her head on pause.

* * *

When Damon came home, she jumped on him before the door had closed and they had an intense lovemaking session.

"What's the occasion?" he asked, when they were done, grinning happily at her.

"Just a reminder that I love you and you'll be Mr. Salvatore-Bennett soon."

He snorted. "You mean, you'll be Mrs. Bennett-Salvatore soon."

She cocked her head, shifting it against his bare chest. "Er… no. I think I got it right the first place."

He laughed. "You are lucky that I'm allowing you to keep your hyphenated name at all. Don't push it."

"I'm lucky?" She asked, sputtering with mock outrage and punched him playfully. He turned her on her back, and tickled her hard, which led to laughter and another round of lovemaking, this time light and playful.

Afterwards, they fooled around in the shower and then went down for dinner. Since Damon was cooking, it was pancakes.

"You have got to learn something else," she said, only half-joking, as she set the table.

"Why the hell should I? You love my pancakes!"

"Not every day of my life, I don't. And won't you want to eat something other than fried batter, too?"

"Everything tastes the same with blood, BB." He sat across from her, and tapped the blood bag by his plate.

Bonnie's fork was half way to her mouth when it froze. Over the piece of pastry, she tried a teasing smile. "Not for long, it won't. The Cure, remember?"

There was a beat. Then he grinned, his eyebrows cocking. "Not for long."

A cold finger crawled into Bonnie's heart. She forced herself to put the pancake into her mouth. It felt like paper. The first thing she had eaten in… was it really a day? … and she couldn't taste it.

"Fixed a date yet?" she asked casually, after she had forced down a swallow.

He was puncturing the blood bag with a straw at the time. He looked up at her quizzically. "For our wedding?" He asked, his eyes goggling. "OK, I've heard of pregnancy brain but not bride brain…"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I mean for the Cure. When are you going to take it?"

He rolled his eyes back, took a deep draw from the bag. "Soon, BB," he said pulling back, his lips and teeth stained crimson. "What's with the interrogation?"

"Just wanting to set a timeline, that's all."

"Since when have you wanted to…" Then his eyes narrowed. "Did you talk to your cousin again?"

Bonnie shifted uneasily. They both knew each other too well. "Maybe…"

He scoffed, dropping the bag on the table. Blood leaked out of the straw but he ignored it, as he reached out his hands to grab hers. "Bonnie, I love you. We're getting married. I'm turning human. We're moving out of Virginia and having lots of disgusting babies."

Warmth filled her heart. "That was so sweet until the part where you called my future children disgusting."

"Anything that poops on itself is disgusting by definition."

She laughed softly, and he squeezed her hands. "I love you. And I put a ring on it to prove it."

They both glanced at the shining stone on her ring finger, twinkling in the candle light.

"I know," she said softly. "I love you, too, Damon. So much."

"So… love me. Stop letting Lucy get into your head. Or I'll have to break her neck."

She snorted as he mock glared, then lifted his bag back to his lips.

They didn't make love again that night, but they slept off cuddled together, her head resting on his chest, listening to the absence of a heartbeat until she felt his breath become steady as sleep took him. That was when she unwrapped herself from him, put on her dressing gown to protect herself from the cold night air, and padded out of the room.

She called Lucy and tapped impatiently on the floor as the phone rang to the end then went into voicemail.

Even better. She didn't want to have a conversation with her cousin.

"I've thought about it and I'm not going to do it. It's too risky and it's… There isn't any point. So this is the new deal – I will give Abby the Cure but only on the condition that you promise me that you don't ever come at me or Damon or anyone we know with this false hope of breaking the spell and waking Elena up. Elena's gone and she's not coming back in my lifetime. I've accepted it. Damon has accepted it. Now you have to accept it, too. Goodbye."

She switched off the phone and took a deep breath, feeling a weight lift from her shoulder.

Lucy was right. Abby taking the Cure won't stop Damon from being Cured. It would just change the logistics a little. She could trust Abby to keep Damon being Cured a secret. Despite everything, she knew that her mother would never actively wish to hurt her. She'd abandon her and prioritize Elena's life over hers, but she wasn't Bonnie's enemy, won't work against Bonnie.

Which was more than could be said about Lucy, who was shaping up to be the biggest threat to Bonnie's happiness than Kol Mikaelson or any other…

"Lucy found a way to wake Elena up?"

For the fraction of a second, Bonnie Bennett's heart literally stopped beating.

She turned slowly, so slowly. She felt like if her body had been turned to marble, her limbs heavy and stiff under her, as she forced herself to move until she was staring into Damon's face.

Damon's shocked, pained, hopeful face.

Bonnie's heart started pounding.

 _"Lucy found a way to bring Elena back?"_

* * *

A/N: I made a bunch of very small, but significant changes in this chapter. I wonder if the Sherlockians amongst you will spot them... :D :D Once again guys, thanks for the reviews and the support and the encouragement!


	4. A Dis-cordial Invitation

**Chapter Four. A Dis-cordial Invitation**

 _"Lucy found a way to wake Elena up?"_

The first time he asked, Damon had whispered the question, his voice so low that Bonnie had half-hoped that she had dreamt it up. She hadn't heard him draw near, curse his vampire stealth, curse her own complete disarmament to him that made him immune to her usual witch perceptivity.

 _"Lucy found a way to bring Elena back?"_

The second time, his voice was raised, a decibel short of a shout.

"Damon…"

"This is what she said to you yesterday that got you so upset, right? This is what you've been talking to her about, isn't it?"

"Damon…"

"That's why you were asking me about the Cure this night, right? You were planning on keeping this from me all this while?"

"Damon, please…" She reached for him, her hands stretched and beseeching.

He moved fast: one moment, he was standing across the room, the next he was in her face, his hands gripping her shoulders painfully, his face filled with emotion.

 _"Were you ever going to tell me, Bonnie?"_

"Damon… You're hurting me!"

He let her go so suddenly that she stumbled, and would have fallen to the floor if she hadn't grabbed a chair to support her.

"Damon, please…"

She turned to beseech him… and realized she was talking to empty air.

Damon was gone.

* * *

Halfway through her rescheduled dress-fitting, Bonnie burst into tears.

She had been calling Damon's number all day, and it kept going to voicemail. Either his phone was switched off or he had blocked her number. She made it through the early hours of work, before she got the call from Caroline, reminding her that they had rescheduled for that day. The timing couldn't have been worse and she almost cried it off. But somehow she got herself to her feet, asked her Professor for the rest of the day off, and drove herself to the bridal shop.

She managed to hold it together until she was finally in the dress, an ethereal-looking Vera Wang creation that made Bonnie look like a princess out of a fairy-tale.

But she wasn't a princess, she told herself as she stared into the three-way mirror. She was a witch. And witches didn't get the prince or the happily ever after.

That was when she broke down.

Caroline shooed away the curious seamstress and her staff, and pulled Bonnie, wedding dress and all, into her arms. She begged Bonnie to tell her what was wrong until finally, in halting words, Bonnie poured out her heart to her friend.

It was the first time she had told anyone about Lucy's diabolical offer. When she finished, she lifted her head to stare at her friend's emotionless face, her heart pounding with anxiety. Caroline had never made a secret of her feelings for Damon, unchanged even after all these years. But she also made no secret of her love and respect for Bonnie, and kept her opinions of Damon away from her friend. In return, Bonnie rarely confided in her best friend about her relationship with her soon-to-be husband. It was a question of respect on her part as well.

Bonnie still had vivid memories of Caroline's – heck, of _her_ own reaction all those years ago when Elena had shared the news of her new relationship with them all.

 _But that was different,_ she told herself now. _Elena was sirebond. Damon was a different person. Caroline was right to disapprove. My relationship with him now is nothing like hers was._

Still she waited, almost afraid of Caroline's reaction.

But the hurtful words she half-expected didn't come. Caroline merely sighed and stroked Bonnie's hair. "I can't believe it. That Elena could come back. I… I've got so used to the idea of her being gone. The idea that I could see her sometime soon… not in sixty years…" Her voice trailed off but there was no hiding the note of hope in it.

Her words were like a bolt straight into Bonnie's chest. For the first time since that fateful day ( _May 10!),_ it dawned her what this could mean to people other than herself and Damon. Other people who had loved and missed Elena. Caroline. Stefan. People who had resigned themselves to never seeing her again in their lives. Alaric. Matt.

 _Jeremy_.

Had she, Bonnie, really been so selfish that she had only thought of Elena's life in how it related to _her wedding_?

Had she even thought of what this would mean for _Elena_ at all?

For Jeremy? Caroline, Matt, Stefan? The legion of people that cared about Elena?

Since when had she started defining her friend's life solely as it related to Damon, to Bonnie's own love life?

She pulled herself out of Caroline's arms, smoothing futilely the crumples in the gown, then wiping her face hastily as she swallowed hard against the bile of self-disgust that had risen in her throat.

"There's no guarantee that it'll work," she said hoarsely, more for her sake than for Caroline's. "Lucy has an agenda to break us up and she thinks this is the way to do it."

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "You think that she'd risk you dying just to cancel your wedding? She hates Damon that much that she'd rather you dead than married to him?"

Bonnie winced. Put that way, it sounded patently ridiculous.

A thoughtful look fell over Caroline's face. "Or do you think that she's…" Her voice trailed off as Bonnie tensed, but she took a deep breath, and pushed on. "Do you think that she's right that Elena coming back will break you two up?"

Bonnie looked away, blinked hard.

Caroline sighed, then threw a comforting arm over Bonnie's shoulders, squeezed her through the crepe lace over her skin. "Damon's not my favorite person in the world, you know that. But I've seen the way you two are together. It's not the same thing he had with Elena. He respects you, values you more than he did her. More than anybody I've ever seen him with, even Stefan."

That was not what Bonnie wanted to hear. She pulled away from her friend, got shakily to her feet and smoothed down the wide, gorgeous skirt that ballooned from her waist.

"Bonnie…?"

"You didn't say love." She turned to Caroline. "You didn't say that Damon loves me."

A shadow flickered through Caroline's eyes. "He _does_ love you, Bonnie."

"Just not as much as he loved Elena. That's what you mean, right?"

There was a heavy pause. Then Caroline also got to her feet and she walked to her friend, and placed firm hands on Bonnie's arms.

"If you don't want to do this because you're scared it won't work and it will take your life and Elena's, then don't. I'm behind you 100%. Screw Lucy. Screw Damon, too, if he doesn't get that." When Bonnie flinched at the last, Caroline shook her gently. "But if you don't want to do this because you're scared that it _would_ work, that Elena will come back and Damon will leave you for her…" Her gaze turned hard. "Then you _have_ to do it, Bonnie. You cannot walk into that marriage believing that you're his second-choice. You are _no man's_ second choice, Bonnie Sheila Bennett."

Bonnie tried to shrug out of her friend's grip, but Caroline held firm. "I can't… I can't…"

"Yes, you can, Bonnie," Caroline said firmly. "Damon Salvatore is the last…" She bit off her words when Bonnie's eyes narrowed, and laughed shortly. "No man is worth you feeling that … that… you're some … consolation prize he's settling for."

Bonnie winced, hurt. "How can you say that to me? You're supposed to be my friend. You're supposed to encourage me, not put hurtful thoughts into my head."

"My dear Bonnie," Caroline said softly, "if you didn't already have those thoughts, we won't be having this conversation in the first place."

* * *

The Camaro was parked outside the boarding house, next to an unfamiliar car. Bonnie's shoulders drooped at the sight of it. She had been half-hoping that he won't be at the house, half-hoping to postpone this conversation for a few more hours.

But that was a coward's way of thinking, she told herself firmly. And she was way past that.

After the ill-timed dress-fitting, she had tried his number again, and again it had gone into voicemail. So she had spent hours driving around town, as Lucy's words, Caroline's words and the conversation with Damon rattling inside her head until she parked along the side of a dirt road, and screamed into the solitude.

Then she drove to her flat, found it empty, and started driving to Mystic Falls.

She got out of her car now, slammed the door shut behind her and marched into the boarding house.

"Damon!"

The echo of her own voice was the only response she got. Undaunted, she made a beeline for the library. It was either that or his room, but the library was where they kept the best bottles of bourbon.

She burst through the doors.

"Damon, I know you're in here. You and I have to t-"

She froze.

Damon _was_ there, rising to his feet to face her. So was Lucy Bennett, sitting across from him with her legs crossed at her ankles.

"Perfect timing, Bonnie," her cousin said sweetly. She got to her feet daintily, picking up her bag. "I was just leaving. I can see myself out. I suppose you two have a lot to talk about."

She had to pass Bonnie to leave, and she nodded briskly at her cousin, fake smile in place.

Bonnie grabbed her elbow, yanking her back.

"Hey," Lucy said, only half-startled.

"What the hell is going on?" Bonnie hissed.

She looked from her cousin's cool gaze to Damon's indecipherable one.

"Why don't you ask your fiancé?" Lucy replied, unfazed.

"I'm asking you, Lucinda Bennett," Bonnie snapped.

There was a pause, then Lucy yanked her elbow back from Bonnie, and made a show of smoothening her silk shirt.

Bonnie took a step back and folded her arms. She now stood blocking the door and making it clear from her body language that she wasn't going to let her cousin pass until she got exactly what she asked for.

Lucy gave her a sweeping look and laughed softly.

"No sweat off my back telling you," she said calmly. "Damon just accepted on your behalf, an invitation to the _Sollemne Dioskouri*_ , the annual festival held by the Gemini coven on the day the sun enters the Gemini constellation in the tropical zodiac."

"The what of the what in the what now?" Bonnie spluttered.

Lucy bared her teeth in an unpleasant smile. "You're both going to a party on the West Coast. Bring a little black dress. Have a good time. Get de-spelled before the after-party. Then have a nightcap with your boo."

Bonnie's eyes shifted from Lucy's mocking face to Damon's unreadable one. "You agreed to this?" she asked him. "Taking her offer? Calling the Gemini Coven for favors? You still remember what Luke and Hazel almost did to Stefan?"

 _'To Elena_?' she wanted to add, wanted to shock him with the memory of the time the Travellers were desperately searching for doppelganger blood, and the two Gemini witches were equally desperate to stop them. But the thought of Damon changing his mind, not for Bonnie's sake, but for the sake of once again protecting Elena cut Bonnie to the quick.

So she kept the dreaded name from her tongue, and drew nearer to him, looking up at his stony face with her imploring one. "Damon, be reasonable. You know there's no guarantee that this coven leader can actually break the link between E-Elena and myself. You're risking both our lives for a chance-"

"He's done it before," Damon said brusquely. Bonnie recoiled at the coldness in his tone. "The Curse, I mean. We always wondered how Kol even knew about it. Mystery's solved. Turns out, Kol got the idea from this guy."

It took Bonnie a long moment to reply – torn between hurt at his tone (it had been months and in the middle of a life-and-death situation since he had spoken to her like that) and outrage at his words.

"So we're asking the same guy who invented this thing to help us? We're trusting … _Kol's mentor_?"

"It's a long story," Damon snapped, his emotionless face now darkening with temper. "I can explain it on the flight to Portland, if you're interested. Or not. I'm not sure why I should bother. After all, if you're allowed to keep secrets from me, it's only fair that I get to do the same."

Bonnie flinched, her anger leaving at once. "Damon, I…"

"You what? Are going to lie to my face again?"

Lucy cleared her throat, making the other two start; they had briefly forgotten her presence.

"Perhaps I should leave you two alone to your lovers's spat," she murmured, brushing past Bonnie.

"You and I are not done yet," Bonnie snapped, but she made no move to stop Lucy.

Lucy merely laughed softly as she shut the doors behind her.

Bonnie turned to her fiancé.

"Damon, you can't hold this against me."

"Why the hell not? You only lied to me for days about this."

"It was just the one day!"

"Semantics!" he yelled. "Just answer me one question: Were you ever going to tell me, Bonnie, or were you going to keep this a secret from me forever?"

"What secret?" Bonnie screamed. "Lucy's speculations? That she came up with to break us up? Something that is clearly working, judging from your reaction!"

"The only thing that is breaking us up is you lying to my face and sneaking around behind my back!"

"So we are breaking up?" Bonnie cried, her voice catching.

The anger in his face seemed to seep out a bit. "We're not, Bonnie. We're just…" He took a deep breath, then looked away as if he couldn't bear the sight of her. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "You shouldn't have kept this from me."

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm sorry! I didn't know what it meant… what you would do… I thought… I thought…"

She put her hands on her face, and was startled to feel the wetness there. She turned away, ashamed but Damon was already in front of her, and he enveloped her in his arms.

"Shhh…"

"I didn't know what to think," Bonnie sobbed into his chest. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept this from you."

"No, you shouldn't," he said sternly but his voice was kind, if rough with leftover temper. "You and I have long learnt that keeping secrets is never a good thing for us."

Bonnie snorted softly. "Hasn't stopped either of us in the past."

He laughed. She heard it through his chest, then felt his hand stroking her hair gently.

"You don't have to worry about me, Bonnie. About us. But this idea of Lucy… We owe it to Elena to at least go to Portland to feel this guy out. If he's as good as Lucy says, we'll know. If he's a phony, we'll make Lucy pay for putting us through the wringer."

Bonnie nodded into his shirt. Then she leaned back and wiped her face. "The Cure… Abby…"

"We're giving it to her right away." A strange look crossed his face. "When did she change her mind about wanting it?"

Bonnie swallowed, forced her face not to flinch. "I don't know."

He shrugged, patted her back. "Well, she can have it. It shouldn't even have been on the table in the first place."

Bonnie nodded, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.

For a moment, they stared at each other wordlessly. Then Damon pulled her into a kiss, as passionate as a promise.

When he broke off, they were both panting. "You and I are going to be fine, Witchy," he vowed. Then his face became playful. "Speaking of _which_ , this Witchy Woo convention sounds boring as hell. Get it? Which? Witch?"

She snorted. "Hilarious."

He grinned, pleased. "I thought so. So what do you say, BB? Ready to go show those stiffs how we party down in the South?"

Bonnie grinned her first genuine smile all day – days in fact, since _May 10_. "Hell, yeah."

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you everyone for the kind reviews. :D In the middle of mid-terms so I can't write longer replies, but thanks again. I appreciate them!_


	5. Abby

**Chapter Five. Abby**

It had been years since she saw her mother. So, even though she knew better, a part of Bonnie was still shocked to see how unchanged her mother looked.

Abby had been surprised to get Bonnie's call but by the time she and Caroline showed up on her doorstep, she must have got over it. In her characteristic aloof way, she was pleasant and welcoming to the two girls. She complimented their hairstyles – Caroline's cut, and Bonnie's bright colors – and made them soothing tea. Caroline asked about her shop, her research, and Jamie. Bonnie, who had been mostly silent so far, perked up at the latter – and was mildly amused to hear that he had relocated to Europe. He really took her advice back in the day to heart, and ran as far away from Virginia as was physically possible.

It was when the conversation shifted to Bonnie's wedding plans that she cut in abruptly.

"This isn't a social call, Abby," she said firmly, ignoring Caroline's disapproving gaze.

Bonnie reached into her satchel, took out the case and opened it.

Abby gasped. "Is that…?" her voice had suddenly gone hoarse. "Is that what I think it is?"

Bonnie placed it on the table.

"It's the Cure, Abby," Caroline said gently.

"I d-don't understand," Abby stammered. "I thought there was only one and Katherine…"

"Long story short, Abby, this is another. I'm offering it to you. Do you want it?"

The moment she asked, she knew it was a pointless question. The shock and hope on Abby's face was so painful to look at that Bonnie didn't. She pushed off from the chair and stood.

Abby's head jerked from its fixed stare at the vial on the table to stare up at her daughter in fearful, hopeful confusion.

"I just… want some air…" Bonnie stammered, ignoring Caroline's glare. "M-make up your mind w… while I'm gone."

"I'm going to take it," Abby said quickly. Then her face twisted, as she clearly tried to check herself. "I mean… if you would like that."

"If I didn't like that, I won't have brought it for you, would I?"

And, on that note, she made a hasty retreat.

She knew the instant her mother took the Cure. Felt the reverberations of magic shake her very bones. When she closed her eyes, she could see Lucy's face, filled with condemnation.

* * *

"She told me that she was fine. That she didn't need it."

"Clearly, she only said that to make you feel better."

Abby had insisted on them staying at her house, instead of the hotel that they had booked to spend the night before returning back to Virginia the next day. Bonnie would have stood her ground but Caroline thought Abby's offer was an excellent idea, and bore down on her friend.

It was late evening. Abby was in her garden. She had barely left it all day, only coming in to make dinner for the girls. It had been an awkward meal, Bonnie answering her mother's tentative questions with short sentences until Caroline had taken over, drawing Abby's conversation to herself, and effectively cutting Bonnie off.

Now when Caroline said nothing, merely shrugged, Bonnie turned on her wrathfully. "Just spit it out already. You think it was wrong of me not to give her the Cure from the beginning."

Caroline eyed her warily. "I didn't say that."

"But you thought it. Still do," Bonnie snapped.

Caroline hesitated, clearly figuring out the best thing to say. Then she leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes.

"You said that you had offered her the Cure and she turned it down."

"She told me that she was fine as a vampire. There was no point bringing it up after that."

Caroline sighed. "If you didn't think you'd done anything wrong, why do you feel so guilty?"

"I do not," Bonnie lied. "I feel _angry_. I don't need you judging me, Caroline Forbes!"

Caroline's eyes flew open. "What?"

"About my mother. About Damon. You think I don't know that you've never approved of my relationship with him?"

Caroline's eyes flashed. "I've never pretended to. Not with Elena. Not with you. But did that ever stop any of you?"

The accusation stung. The memory of what Damon did to her best friend was one that Bonnie rarely ever dwelt on. In truth, she felt it paled in comparison to all the other things he had done to her personally, and to their collective inner circle.

"It didn't stop you from dating his brother," Bonnie lashed back, furious at herself and at Caroline for the thoughts that had just run through her mind. Had she just trivialized Damon's assault of Caroline because she knew her fiancé had done far worse? "So stop acting like if you're doing _me_ this big favor for putting up with him."

Her friend flushed. "Why are we talking about this? I've kept my peace about Damon all this while. So where the hell do you come off being angry with _me_?"

"Since you started acting like if I stole Damon from Elena, and it's an irrefutable fact that when she comes back, he's going to go running to her!"

Caroline's jaw dropped, and her eyes boggled. It would have been almost comical if Bonnie's heart wasn't already full of hurt and anger.

"When have I ever acted or said or done anything to make you think that I think that?"

Bonnie scoffed. "Oh please." She started walking out of the room, feeling Caroline's heavy gaze boring through her back. She opened the door, then stopped to turn back at her friend.

Caroline's face was a picture of hurt but Bonnie was past caring.

"You know, Caroline, don't be so sure that Elena's going to wake up wanting _Damon_. It's been five years. Damon and I are not the only ones that have moved on."

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Bonnie scoffed again. "Oh please. Like it didn't cross your mind five years ago when Elena turned human that she'd choose differently. Choose _Stefan_."

Caroline flinched.

"Like I said," Bonnie said sweetly. "Damon and I are not the only ones who might have moved on."

She slammed the door on the look of dismay on Caroline's face with satisfaction.

* * *

It was a few nights after the last full moon, and Bonnie just hang in the silence of the near-dark, away from the toxicity of the conversation she had just left. Away from her own roiling emotions.

But, of course, Abby was still in her effing garden. Bonnie was about to turn around, when her mother's voice stopped her.

"Bonnie?"

With a sigh, she swiveled. "Abby."

Abby stood up from where she was kneeling in the soil to walk to her daughter.

Already, Bonnie could see the changes in her mother. Her cheeks which less than twenty-fours ago, were sallow and chiseled, were now rounder, softer. The frown lines in her forehead had reappeared. She didn't look bad for a woman who was pushing fifty. But she didn't look like the ageless supermodel she had looked a short while ago.

"Thank you."

Bonnie looked away. "You've said that already."

"I know but… You didn't have to do this for me. I never wanted…" She cleared her throat. "I got a call from Lucy. An unexpected call. Between her call and you turning up… Let's just say that I don't believe in coincidences. It wasn't easy, but I finally got her to tell me what was going on."

Bonnie turned a wary gaze to Abby. If she was going to dare berate Bonnie for not giving her the Cure sooner…

"Don't go to Portland. Don't try to break the Spell on Elena."

Bonnie Bennett had lived a very eventful life, full of the supernatural and the unexplainable. So for her mother's words to have been the most shocking thing she had probably ever heard… that meant something.

She stared at Abby with her jaw so slack, it almost touched the ground. "W-what?" she managed.

Abby nodded, her grave face even graver in the moonlight. "It's too risky. If I had known what she was up to, I would never have taken the Cure. Never have let her use that against you. But it's not yet too late… I'm telling you, Bonnie. Don't do it. I'll handle Lucy."

Bonnie said nothing, still staring.

Abby stretched out her arms, her hands cupped as if she wanted to grab Bonnie's shoulders. Then she changed her mind, and let them fall to her side. "When Lucy told me the first time about what Kol Mikaelson did to you, I did some research. I didn't have powers or a… a coven…" There was an awkward moment as both women winced in remembrance of why that was. "But I still had contacts here and there. I found out everything I knew about the spell. It's reductive magic, dangerous, complicated. Six heretics were used to seal the curse. It's not designed to be broken. There are very few witches in the world who can wield the power to break it. Even fewer with the _skill_ to do so. Bonnie, trying to undo that Curse is _dangerous_."

Bonnie shivered, and it was not because of the warm night breeze. She wrapped her arms around herself, and swallowed hard. "Lucy said that the Gemini leader-"

Abby swore profanley under her breath. But it was not so low that Bonnie couldn't make out the words and she stepped back in surprise. Her mother's face was positively wrathful. This was a woman that, even as a vampire, rarely emoted. Bonnie felt completely thrown.

"I could strangle that girl," Abby snapped. "I probably would if I see her any time soon. Listen to me, Bonnie. You're not doing this, OK? And if Lucy tells your fiancé –"

"He already knows," Bonnie said bitterly.

Abby started, her anger giving way to shock. "She told him?"

"Not really. He overheard me… It doesn't matter. He knows. He wants me to do this."

The anger flashed briefly across Abby's face. "Of course, he does."

"What does that mean?" Bonnie asked sharply.

Now her mother looked wary. "Bonnie… It doesn't matter what Lucy or D… your fiancé want. You're done risking your life for Elena."

Bonnie bristled at that. "We're way past the stage of you telling me what I can or cannot do, _Abby_ ," she said coldly. "Way past."

Abby swallowed, and looked away. But not before the flash of hurt that crossed her face.

It made Bonnie feel guilty for a moment. Then the guilt was replaced with anger – anger that she had felt guilty at all for only saying what was true.

"I… I know that," Abby said quietly. "But please. Think about what I said. The Gemini are… They're not like you. Or me. Or most witches for that matter. They're hard, they're cold. And their leader is… Their leader is dangerous, Bonnie."

A shiver of apprehension crawled up Bonnie's spine. With her own scant experiences with that coven, she couldn't doubt her mother's words. But she shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Big deal. I've dealt with worse."

"Don't be so sure, Bonnie. I don't believe Lucy when she says that there's no catch to this. There's no way the Gemini would be doing this for free."

Bonnie shrugged again. "I'll find out when I get there."

Abby's voice raised in distress. "Bonnie! Please… _please_ _…_ I know I have no right to ask this of you. But don't do this. I am begging you. Don't do this. Don't put yourself at the mercy of the Gemini. Don't risk your life for Elena Gilbert. I am _begging you_."

Something cracked in Bonnie's heart as she watched her mother's face, tears shining in her eyes. Everything in her wanted to not be moved, not give a damn about Abby's day-and-dollar belated concern of her daughter's welfare.

But deep down inside her, there was still that little girl that just wanted her mother to come back.

"I… I'll think on it," she said quietly.

* * *

After their last conversation, Bonnie found the idea of being stuck in a car with Caroline for hours was frankly horrifying. And she couldn't wait any longer to get home and see the man she was planning to spend her life with, the love of her life. So Bonnie said her goodbyes to Abby and before midnight, while her friend was sleeping, she left her mother's house and caught the red eye back home.

It was early morning by the time the plane landed. Bonnie hadn't slept a wink throughout the flight. Coupled with the time she had spent awake during the long drive the day before, she felt like if her body was filled with lead.

She took a cab straight to the Salvatore's home. She knew Damon won't be at her apartment while she wasn't around.

 _"He crashes here to make his booty calls more convenient."_

"Shut up Lucy," Bonnie hissed furiously, making the cab driver stare at her warily.

Whatever. Maybe it made him get her to Damon's faster. She paid him off with a generous trip and barged right through the house.

"Damon!"

He was in. She had seen the Camaro parked outside.

His bedroom was empty, and because his usual fastidiousness about housecleaning, she couldn't even tell if it had been slept in. The bed was made, warm and inviting and Bonnie wanted nothing more than to crawl into it and shut her eyes. But she couldn't. She had to talk to Damon, first. Tell him what she had decided.

She went around the house, calling for him.

She had almost given up, and given in to her own need to sleep – when she finally found him in the last place she had thought to check – his brother's room.

He had fallen asleep in one of the armchairs, one leg dangling over an armrest, and an empty bottle dangling from one hand.

She tsked with disapproval. Whatever inane drinking binge had he and Stefan got up to last night? She wondered, as she carefully adjusted his head off the painful angle it had fallen back to. She took the bottle out of his hand, then reached over to place his leg off the rest. That was when she noticed what was on the floor, just beside where his other hand dangled off the chair.

A picture frame. It lay face down on the ground.

Her heart was pounding as she reached for it. She already knew what it was before she turned it over.

Stefan and Elena, taken during one of their many high school dances. It was hard to tell which, there had been so many. Besides that, at that moment Bonnie was definitely not in the frame of mind to make sense of anything. Definitely not as she stared down at Elena's beautiful, beloved face while the sound of roaring filled her head.

After that, it was as if she was on auto-pilot. She dropped the frame right where she found it. She left Damon, left his brother's room, and walked up to Damon's bed. She crawled into the blanket, covered her head, and closed her eyes, and let the darkness and confusion claim her.

* * *

 _"Jeremy? Jeremy are you in here? Jeremy – arrrgh!"_

 _Bonnie would have gouged out her eyes if it was possible. She had come to the Salvatore boarding house to find her ex / friend / only person alive who knew she was dead and she could interact with… What could she say? Her relationship with Jeremy right now was the very definition of 'It's Complicated'._

 _She hadn't come to the boarding house to catch an eyeball full of Delena sex-on-the-couch-in-broad-daylight._

 _She gagged a little, turning away hastily. Then, gingerly, she turned back and stared through squinty eyes. She hadn't thought that position was possible? Was it because they were vampires or was Damon really that bendy…?_

 _"I've watched better porn on youtube, love," quipped a voice behind her._

 _Bonnie almost jumped out of her skin._

 _She whirled to see Kol Mikaelson, lying out-stretched on the bar, grinning at her. There was a book in his hand – the Bible, she realized a moment later – and the entire sight was so incongruous that she wondered if she had slipped into some kind of alternate dimensional hell._

 _"Don't be alarmed, little witch," he drawled. "You're only dead, not crazy."_

 _"How are… How do you…?"_

 _He lifted the book. "Read this? Surprised I don't burn to a crisp just looking at it."_

 _Bonnie sputtered, waving her hand at him. "You're dead."_

 _"So are you."_

 _"But you… you're a vampire. You're not supposed to be able to see anyone or interact with anything on the other side. Only witches can do that."_

 _He shrugged. "I was a witch, a long time ago. Who knows what rules are in play for creatures like me or what deals my beloved mother might have cut on my behalf?"_

 _"Can you see her or anyone else on the Other Side?" Bonnie asked, curious despite herself._

 _"At the moment, only you. Although I can see everybody on this side of divide." He jerked his head towards the two that were still at it behind Bonnie._

 _"What do you want?"_

 _"Right now? A little carnal background for my reading. Scintillating stuff this book." He waved the Bible at her again. "Won't want to take it to heart too much. I figured that since they're always at it, I might as well take advantage."_

 _"You're perverted."_

 _He grinned. "Why, thank you, darling. I'm so glad you think so highly of me since we're going to be spending a lot of time together."_

 _Bonnie stared, panic rising in her. "What?"_

 _"Like I said, you're the only one I can see. Why not keep each other company?"_

 _"No," she protested._

 _"I'm sorry, love, did that sound like a question?" His eyes twinkled. "It wasn't."_

 _"You can leave Mystic Falls, can't you? Go to New Orleans… your family…"_

 _The sparkle in his eyes died abruptly and his whole demeanor changed from casual amusement to tightly-held fury. "And do what? Watch them live their best lives without me? Watch them not mourn my death, not avenge it? Watch the 'Always and Forever' trio roll in bed with the same people that murdered me? We finally get rid of Mikael – who, by the way, was only a threat because of Klaus – and I don't get to live to enjoy my freedom after centuries at living at Klaus's mercy…" His voice trailed off._

 _Bonnie shivered, the stark anger in his face, in his words, alarming._

 _His face twisted in a grotesque grin. "One day, darling Bonnie, I'm going to get out of this place. It might take me year, a century, a millenium. But I will be free of this place and then, I will give my family a painful and excruciating death for all the ways they've proven to be such a disappointment to me."_

 _The heart that wasn't really beating, slammed painfully in Bonnie's chest. "If you kill your siblings, you'll kill hundreds of vampires that are sired to them." If you kill Klaus, you'll kill my friends. But she knew better than to say that out loud._

 _Kol glanced over Bonnie's shoulder again at the duo on the couch. "Funny thing. I don't remember anyone bringing this up when dear Elena killed me?"_

 _Bonnie shifted, putting her body in his line of sight. "Leave her alone," she hissed. "Leave my friends alone. Leave me alone."_

 _He glanced at her, his gaze sweeping her from the top of her head to her feet. "You have no powers here, witchy, any more than I do so I'll tamper down on the idle threats. And as for leaving you alone."_

 _In one swift move, he swung off from the bar and was inches from her face._

 _She was so surprised that she took a step backwards, and he followed quickly, backing her right into the back of the couch, trapping her with his arms on either side of her as he bent his face down to hers._

 _She could barely hear the other people in the room, so caught up in shock and alarm at the sight of his dark eyes, boring a hair's breath from her own._

 _"As for leaving you alone…" And he lifted a hand to pick a strand of her hair, and watch it contemplatively. "Why, little witch," his eyes slanted back to her own shocked ones, and he smiled devilishly, "you and I are only just getting started…"_

* * *

 ** _AN: The well wishes for my exams were so touching! Thanks so much. I'm really glad you're all enjoying this story. It's been fun to write, reworking what was already an incredible story into something new and hopefully just as intriguing. My mid-terms are over (TG!) and I'll be updating all my stories more frequently for the next few weeks. :D Which one would you guys like to read next? As always, if you're reading let me know!_**


	6. Welcome to the Hotel Gemini

**Chapter Six. Welcome to the Hotel Gemini**

The hotel was fancy, one of the nicest that Bonnie had ever been inside of; and coming from a girl who had once had free rein over an empty planet, that was saying something. Whatever else might be wrong with the Gemini coven, at least they weren't stingy about splurging for their guests.

The moment she stepped into their suite, she slipped out of her shoes and sank into the depths of the King-sized bed and just luxuriated in the feel of comfort and indulgence, and tried to turn her brain off for a little while.

Of course, it was an empty hope. Even now, she was worrying that Damon would forget to tip the bellboy before he compelled away his memory of their small storage fridge of blood bags.

Despite herself, she listened to the murmur of the conversation at the door but barely heard much before Damon shut it, and then she heard his footfalls as he approached her.

When the bed dipped under his weight, and she felt his hands on her neck, she tensed.

"Wanna christen our room?" he murmured lowly.

A few days ago, the sound of his voice like that would have turned her insides to mush. Now, it just made her tense even more.

She sat up. "Lucy asked me to check in on her when we arrived."

He pressed his face into the space between her shoulder and her neck. "She can wait a few hours, can't she?" he said into her skin.

She shrugged him off as she picked up her phone.

She had just pressed the dial button, when the world shifted, and she found herself flat on her back, her phone falling to the floor, the wind knocked out of her as Damon loomed over her, with that familiar, semi-playful 'I'm not kidding around' smirk on his face.

"Damon!"

He cocked his head. "What's going on, BonBon? You've been icing me for days now, since you got back from Abby's. Don't think I haven't noticed."

She tried to sit up and shove him off, but he held her shoulders and pushed her back into the bed.

"Ow!" she yelled, more in surprise than anything else.

"Don't we usually wait a few more months before we start the 'keeping secrets from each other' spiel?"

Bonnie just glared at him. He heaved a big, dramatic sigh, then lifted his hands in a mock-innocent manner and shifted back. She got off the bed at once.

"Bon-"

"That was not cool, Damon," she snapped.

"Know what else is not cool? You keeping things from me so soon after the last time."

"Really? Because that's rich coming from you."

His eyes narrowed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Not for the first time in the past two days, it was on the tip of Bonnie's tongue to just blurt it out. The picture frame. What seeing him mourning over Elena's picture had done to her.

And not for the first time, she didn't.

"My mom doesn't like you, Damon. It bothered me, OK? I may be a witch but I'm still human."

He rolled his eyes. "So Abby hates me. How is this news now?"

"It matters now," Bonnie said, her voice turning waspish, "because with you and I are getting married, she and I are going to be even further apart than we already are. There goes any hope I have of having any kind of relationship with my mother."

His eyes boggled at her. "Where's all this coming from? Since when have you wanted a relationship with Abby? The same woman who abandoned you when you were a kid?"

 _Abandoned me because of Elena. She had a choice between protecting Elena and raising me and she chose Elena._

 _It's always Elena, isn't it?_

"People change, Damon," she said quietly.

"Not people like that. She's a deadbeat."

"She's also the only mother I've ever known! And when I have kids of my own someday…" She trailed off at the shadow that passed over his face. " _If_ I have kids of my own someday, I'm going to have to figure out not to be her." When he said nothing, her voice shook with feeling. "But who knows? That might never even be a problem at the rate at which we're going. Right, Damon?"

He frowned. "What are you saying, Bonnie?"

She smiled bitterly. "Nothing. Just that it's been taking you an awful long time to decide when you'll take the Cure."

He fell back on the bed with a loud groan. "Not this again."

She rushed to him, suddenly overcome. "When are you going to take it Damon?" she asked quickly. "Before the wedding? After? The honeymoon? Our anniversary?"

"Bonnie-"

"It's in Abby now. For god knows how long… By the time word gets out that Abby Bennett is a witch again, people will start putting two and two together."

"So let's make Damon the target instead, right?" he growled.

She shook her head, exasperated. "Don't you try to play that card. We've talked about this, looked at it from every angle. We've figured out a way for you to take the Cure and still stay safe."

"Yeah, we talked about it – and I _promised_ to take it so why-"

"When? When are you going to take it?" _After Elena wakes up?_

He sat up, his eyes flashing. "Don't put me on an effing timetable, Bon."

"You can fly over to Abby's tonight and take it. There's no reason why you have to wait. Unless…"

Her voice trailed off as his eyes narrowed.

"Unless what, Bonnie?" he asked, his voice cold.

She opened her mouth - ready to spit it all out there and then.

Both of them glanced at the phone that suddenly started ringing.

It was Lucy.

"Perfect timing," Damon scoffed. He got to his feet, grabbed his jacket.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you."

"Damon!"

But he was already gone, the door slamming hard behind him.

Bonnie let out a little scream of frustration, then picked up the phone.

"What is it?"

There was a surprised noise from the other end. "Er… Bonnie?"

"Lucy, this is not a good time."

"You called me first, remember? I'm returning your call."

Right. She had forgotten what happened barely moments ago.

"Lucy-"

"I just wanted to make sure you got to the hotel OK. I wrangled you guys into the guest list at the last minute and I wasn't sure everything would run smoothly for you'. Like the place?"

Bonnie didn't bother answering that. "When does the Gemini leader do the spell?"

"Soon enough," Lucy said. "For the first few days, he'll be up to his eyeballs in ceremonial crap so he'll be too busy but after that-"

"Did you just say _days_?" Bonnie shrieked.

"Gotta a problem with that? Your wedding is in weeks."

 _At this rate_ , Bonnie thought staring morosely at the door, _is there still going to be a wedding?_

"I have fittings," she said morosely. "Recitals. I have to choose the cake. We still don't have a band…"

"What about that anal friend of yours, Caroline whatshername? Isn't she in charge of things?"

Bonnie bit her lip hard, and fought back the sudden urge to scream – or cry. She and Caroline hadn't seen or spoken to each other since she left her at her mother's house. She only knew from Stefan that her friend had returned back to Virginia. Caroline hadn't answered any of her calls. The two women who were usually as close as sisters were probably the most estranged that they had ever been in their entire lives.

"That's not the point. It's my wedding, not Caroline's. I have to be there for these things. Why did you drag me all the way here so early if you knew I won't get to see him right away?"

"Who said you won't get to see him right away? I'll introduce you during tomorrow's presentation, then we go on from there."

"You just said-"

"I meant that he won't be available for serious magic business until he's done with the coven stuff." When Bonnie sighed angrily, Lucy laughed. "So in the meanwhile, consider this a paid vacation. Enjoy the West Coast. Check out the casinos. Have fun mingling with the other supernaturals. The hotel will be crawling with them. Or if that's not your thing then go to the beach and make your fiancé to get a tan so he won't look like a corpse on his wedding day." She laughed at that. "Good luck with that one."

"Lucy-"

"I'm in the hotel across the street so pop over if you're in the mood." She rattled off her room number. "Otherwise, see you tomorrow-"

"Lucy – Lucy…"

But she had already hung up.

Bonnie took a deep breath then she started pacing the room, trying desperately to soothe her frayed nerves.

She considered calling Damon, asking him to talk. She'd tell him about seeing him with Elena's picture; how that shook her so badly that she changed her mind about going through the lifting of the Curse because she'd rather just have Elena alive and Damon choose than live in her best friend's shadow for the rest of her life.

She'd tell him all these things and he'd stare at her with bitter hurt, and remind her that he loved her, that he chose her. Remind her that he had a choice between Elena awake and Bonnie dead and he chose Bonnie then. And had chosen her every-time since then.

 _"If anything were to happen to you, I would lose my mind."_

She called him.

"Hello?"

Pause. "Bonnie."

"Damon… can we talk?"

There was another pause. "Only if you're ready to be truthful with me, Bonnie."

"I am. I will," she said quickly. "Can you come up?"

"Can _you_ come down? I'm in the middle of a wicked game of poker here. These guys play hardball." He chuckled and she could hear a rumble of laughter in the background.

She sighed. "I was thinking…"

"What? I didn't quite catch that?"

She sighed again. "Nothing. Tell me where to meet you."

He told her, describing the specific casino downstairs that she could find him.

"Wear something sexy," he said lastly. "I wanna show off my girl."

She managed a weak laugh and hung up. He was having a good time, by the sound of things. He didn't sound overly mad, just exasperated. He wanted to show her off. They were all signs that he wasn't still in a bad mood.

She could do this. She could make this work.

Her bags were still unpacked so it took a while to find something that Damon Salvatore would consider sexy enough to show his future wife off in. But Bonnie finally found it* – slinky in silverish pink, and an eye-popping contrast against her olive skin and the streaks in her hair. She shook out her hair, freeing it from the braid that had become more or less her go-to style over the last few years, and let it fall straight to her waist. She was leaning in front of the mirror, carefully applying eyeliner when she realized that her hand was shaking so badly that she was messing up her face.

She dropped the pencil, sat down on the chair and called Caroline's number.

"Please pick up," she said under her breath. "Please… please… please…"

But it went straight to voicemail.

"Caroline… You still mad?" She started out with a flippant laugh that turned nervous, and ended in a sob. "I really need to talk to you. Please call me back."

She cut the call, then covered her face with her hands and breathed deeply.

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.

It took her a few moments, but she finally calmed herself down enough to finish her face. She grabbed her purse, slipped into heels and left the room.

* * *

"Damon Salvatore? Tall. Black hair? Really good-looking."

Bonnie gave the female bartender a wary look. "Yes."

"He said to tell you – you're Bonnie right? – that he'll be back soon."

"What?"

The bartender pushed a tall glass across the bar.

"I didn't ask for…"

"You're from the Gemini group, aren't you? It's taken care of."

"Oh." Nervously, Bonnie took a sip. To her pleasant surprise, the fruity pink drink was quite good. She took a longer sip.

"Did Damon say where he was going?"

The bartender shook her head. "But he left with some of the other poker dudes. I guess they're moving around tables. It happens a lot around here." She gave Bonnie a commiserating smile. "I'm sure he'll be back soon. Meanwhile, want to try your luck at the tables here?"

Bonnie shook her head, her long hair sweeping over her bare back. "I'm not really a gambling person."

The bartender chuckled, and gave her a broad wink. "Whatever happens in Portland, stays in Portland."

Bonnie smiled reluctantly. "I thought that was Vegas."

"Same rules," the woman said smugly, then moved to attend to another customer.

Bonnie tried to call Damon, but his phone rang to the end. She wondered where he was that he couldn't – or didn't seem to hear his phone ring. With a sigh, she slipped the phone in her purse.

"Care for a drink?"

She looked up startled into a handsome, dark-skinned face eyeing her – or more specifically, eyeing her boobs – with interest.

"I'm waiting for my fiancé," she said sweetly, tipping her hand so that her ring flashed.

His eyes widened, then he grinned. "If I had a fiancée that looked like you, I won't keep her waiting for a minute."

He was a witch, Bonnie realized suddenly, feeling his power brush against her own in an unmistakable way. She hadn't dated many witches but she recognized what that meant. Her fiancé would probably describe it as a 'witchy mating call'.

"Move along now," Bonnie cooed, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

He laughed, stepping back with his hands thrown up. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

She watched him go. Or more specifically, she watched his butt. It was a really nice butt. It seemed to tell well of the rest of the body under that well-fitted suit; and he had an amazing smile and laugh. More importantly, he wasn't pushy, backing off when she made it clear she wasn't interested. Too bad she didn't have any single friends to try to palm him off to.

She thought of Caroline and a cloud passed over her temporarily lifted spirits. She finished her glass and asked the bartender for another.

More guys came over, mostly witches, but there was the occasional vampire and even a female werewolf who insisted on buying Bonnie a drink, ignoring Bonnie's snippy reminder that the drinks were free anyway. But they got her to move out of her internal brooding and tune enough to her environment to recognize that the entire room was filled with supernaturals. She wondered if the entire hotel had been rented by the Gemini for their guests.

She wasn't even that irritated by the constant attention. She had dressed 'sexy' after all. Too bad, her get-up was being appreciated by everyone but the person who requested it. And, of course, the two and a half drinks in her system helped to put things in perspective.

"I spotted you from across the room…"

Bonnie didn't even bother raising her head, just her hand – which she flashed in the general direction of the guy who had cast a shadow over her glass.

"Taken. Not interested. Move along," she said curtly.

"Bonnie?"

She would recognize that voice in her sleep. She jerked up, so fast that she almost knocked down her drink. Her eyes took in the tall, dark-haired, thickly muscled man staring at her with mingled surprise and appreciation.

" _Jeremy Gilbert_?"

* * *

"Jeremy Gilbert, what are you doing here?"

He laughed, so clearly delighted to see her. "I was invited."

"The Gemini invited you? Why?"

"Well, not just me. I mean, all of us."

"Us?"

"We've worked with the Gemini coven several times since the new leader took over. We're allies, so to speak." He answered, distractedly. All the while he was talking, his eyes never left Bonnie – sweeping from her face to her shimmery outfit to her hair.

She bit back on the coy smile that was trying to break across her face. "Jeremy, who's _us_?"

"Oh," he finally caught hold of himself, his cheeks reddening slightly as he finally stopped with the blatant staring. "I mean the hunters."

Oh. Of course.

He insisted on buying her a drink, and while he was talking to the bartender, she studied him. He looked good – taller than she remembered, and filling out his suit with that well-muscled body of his. He had grown a beard, which was a surprise, but it fitted him funny enough.

It was amazing what five years did to a person. The last time she had seen Jeremy Gilbert had been just after his sister's … exit. Then she had still been too full of emotion from Elena being gone, and Kol's twisted punishment, and her own guilt over everything to have any leftover to process the fact that she was meeting the love of her life for the first time since she 'died' almost a year ago. For the first time, and what might easily have been the last time. Jeremy hadn't stuck around – spent most time in Elena's head, thrown out a flippant invitation for her to join him, looked indifferent at her refusal, and left with Tyler Lockwood.

Bonnie had never heard from him since. Once in a blue moon, Tyler's affairs would intersect with their lives and even more rarely, he'd have some news about Jeremy's activities. She had learnt that his Hunter's abilities had returned – around the time that the Cure had resurface – and he had banded the Five into a team of supernatural bounty hunters of sorts. She assumed that he stayed away from Virginia in order not to be tempted to turn against the people he cared about. But she hadn't thought about it too hard, either. After all, his sister was gone for the rest of his life, if Bonnie was lucky, and he probably felt there was nothing left for him.

Not even the girl who had died to save his life.

Bonnie's life since her return from the Prison World had been so full – dealing with Kol, then Lily and the heretics, then the Armory, and Rayna Cruz, and all the while her relationship with Damon had been growing and deepening until they finally made the shift from best friends to lovers. She was proud to realize that she had barely spared a thought for Jeremy Gilbert.

Even though now, he gave her one of those shy smiles she remembered from her high school days, and she felt something – like a shadow of a stirring in her heart. It was distant, from so long ago but it was there. You never forgot your first love, didn't they say? Even though he had kept breaking your heart.

"No need to ask what you're doing here?" he said softly. "Bennett royalty. I'm surprised I'm not beating off your courtiers with a stick."

Bonnie laughed. "Very funny."

"Not really," he said, and he smiled ruefully. "I've been around. Learnt a lot about the supernatural world outside Mystic Falls. You're kinda a big deal, Bonnie. As a Bennett, yeah, but even as _you_. The bad-ass who brought down the Armory, desiccated Klaus Mikaelson, vanquished Silas the Immortal, banished _Kol Mikaelson_ into the Prison World and triggered the end of the Originals." He didn't notice the way she shuddered at that. "What makes it worse is how 'mysterious' you are to everyone outside Mystic Falls. You've rarely left Virginia. People only know you by reputation. If they only knew who was sitting at the bar, looking incredibly…" He coughed, his cheeks reddening again. "Hot. They'd crap themselves."

Bonnie laughed, her hair swinging as she threw back her head. "Smooth."

He grinned. "I try. So what have you been up to these past years, besides kicking ass and taking names?"

She filled him in gladly. His presence helped keep the admirers at bay, even if the bartender was eyeing her askance, obviously wondering why she was hanging around this new guy.

Bonnie ignored her. It was strange how easily the first moments of awkwardness passed, and suddenly she and Jeremy were chatting like if they had last spoken five days, not five years ago.

She flipped through her phone's pictures, narrating stories and laughing with him over the funny ones, although she noticed the way his eyes narrowed at the many pictures of Damon. He hadn't once said anything about the ring she had brazenly flashed at him when he first approached her.

She closed the last image and put down her phone. "So that's my life so far."

"Your job seems really interesting."

Bonnie gave him the side eye.

Jeremy chuckled. "Sorry, I figured that was the polite thing to say."

"My job is boring and stuffy. But New York and DC turned me down and this was the best I could get. The flip side is my boss is pretty chill about me taking time off at the drop of a hat. Comes in handy when there's Mystic Falls palaver to deal with." She winked at him.

His gaze was thoughtful. "That's very convenient."

She gave him another skeptical look. "I know what you're thinking, Jeremy but no, Damon didn't get my job for me and he isn't compelling my boss to be co-operative. I just get along with her very well."

He gave her a strained smile. "If you say so…" There was an awkward pause. "So I guess congratulations are in order."

"Took you long enough," Bonnie said breezily. She took a gulp of her drink to distract herself from the sudden sober turn of the conversation.

"Damon, huh?"

She swallowed, put the drink down and readied herself for this. "Yes, Jeremy. _Damon_."

He looked down at his drink for a long moment. Then he smiled bitterly. "Congratulations, then."

Bonnie scoffed. "Yeah, right. Look, if you have anything to say, then go ahead and say it."

"Why would I have anything to say, Bonnie?"

She shrugged. "Oh, I dunno. Something about your sister and my best friend and her boyfriend or something…"

"Oh _that_?" He snorted. Then he looked up, and the sternness in his face startled her. "If I was going to say something – and I'm not, by the way – it might have been about you hooking up with the guy that snapped your mother's neck."

Bonnie felt the blood drain out of her face.

"But hey," and his mouth twisted bitterly, "you barely even knew Abby and if Damon killing me didn't stop Elena from getting it on with him, then I doubt that a little thing like that would stop you either." He turned back to his moody contemplation of his drink. "Ask your boyfriend to bottle whatever it is he has that keeps the ladies coming, and put it in a cologne. It would make him billions."

Bonnie had to swallow many times before she could speak. "Damon didn't kill Abby. He turned her. _To save your sister's life_."

She could see his jaw working, as he clearly struggled against the words that he wanted to say. She wasn't sticking around to hear them. She hopped off the bar stool abruptly.

Jeremy's hand reached out and caught her.

"Don't go."

"I'm not going to stick around and watch you judge me for Damon. That's the whole reason I'm here already and I don't need any more of that. So if all you're going to say is-"

His eyes widened and she realized too late what she let slip out. "You're here because of Damon…"

She turned to go, but he held fast. "OK, OK. I promise. Damon is off the table."

She eyed him warily. He smiled tentatively at her and squeezed her hand.

She hesitated, the warmth in his eyes unnerving her. "Fine, but I've already hung here for too long. I have to…"

He pouted. "I've missed you, Bonnie. Can't we just hang as friends? I don't have anyone here."

She snorted at his pout. "When did that ever work?" she asked, even as she sat back on the stool, thinking _what the hell_. She _had_ been enjoying his company – up until he brought up Damon and Abby. And Damon hadn't called or texted her so most likely, she was going to return to an empty room.

"And what do you mean that you don't have any friends here? What about the rest of the Five?"

He grimaced. "Believe it or not, hunting and killing vampires together may make us excellent teammates in a battle but not very good friends outside it. Since we re-grouped, we've lost and gained three hunters. When you work this kind of low-life expectancy job, you learn not to get attached to your colleagues."

It sounded sad. At least, she always had her crew in Mystic Falls. Somehow they had weathered through everything and still managed to stay together and alive. Even if it had taken a few sacrifices – mostly Bonnie's – to keep it that way. It had been worth it.

"There's one. Alex Gloriana," He pointed out a petite Hispanic-looking woman at one of the pool tables. She was playing next to someone Bonnie recognized – the gorgeous wizard with the remarkable butt that had tried to pick her up that evening. Her eyes narrowed at how cozy they looked together.

"Is that her date?" she asked casually.

"Dunno. We all came together but maybe they planned to meet up. That's Vincent Griffith, by the way." When Bonnie just looked blank, he added: "He's the regent of the nine covens of New Orleans. Kai would be pleased. The Gemini have been trying to strike an alliance with the New Orleans coven for a long time now. If Vincent's here, that's a good sign."

As if he realized that they were talking about him – and being a powerful warlock, he probably did – Vincent raised his head, looked straight at Bonnie, and winked.

Bonnie lifted her glass to her mouth to hide her blush, and ignored Jeremy's teasing stare.

"Should I introduce you two?" He asked in a sing-song voice.

"Er… no, thank you. Someone put a ring on it, remember?" And quickly, before the conversation dwelled on forbidden topics, she added: "Plus if he's not dating your fellow Huntress, then he's definitely dating that young witch that's been glaring at me since he looked over."

The last part wasn't just for talk. Bonnie had barely noticed the girl in question before Vincent's wink, but now it was hard not to notice the poisonous glances shot her way. The girl was young, younger than Bonnie, and even though her little black dress was cute enough, she looked incongruous in this place, surrounded by far more sophisticated company.

At least, she was definitely powerful, if her aura was anything to go by. But she was also clearly a novice; didn't even know to mask her emotions from her aura. Bonnie could feel the girl's anger from across the room.

 _Tone it down, already. I'm not interested in your man._

If anything, Bonnie's attempt at peace-keeping just made the girl glare more.

To Bonnie's surprise, Jeremy raised a hand in a wave at the group by the pool table. Vincent waved back, his eyes sliding from Bonnie to Jeremy and turning speculative. She figured he was concluding that Jeremy was the fiancé she had been waiting for. It didn't bother her. The huntress gave Jeremy a curt nod, then went back to line up her shot. The young witch gave him a shy smile, shot Bonnie another angry glare, then marched out of the room.

Vincent turned to say something to her, but she had already left. Rather than following her, he shrugged and went back to the game.

"Who is _that_?" Bonnie asked.

"You don't know? She looked like you as if you knew each other."

"I have never met that girl in my life."

"Huh. Well, that's Davina Claire. Vincent's protégée. A few years ago, she came into a lot of power and she got caught up in the feud between Marcel Gerard, a vampire who ran New Orleans and the Mikaelsons when they returned there."

"She – and Vincent – were in New Orleans when the Mikaelsons returned there?"

"Vincent's story is a bit more complicated. He didn't become Regent until after the Originals died. In fact, Davina was Regent before him but she disobeyed the Ancestors, lost her powers, and was shunned. Vincent was made Regent, and he adopted her back into the coven."

"How did she disobey the Ancestors?"

Jeremy shrugged. "Who knows? Ancestral witches are a temperamental bunch."

Didn't she know that, Bonnie thought soberly. She looked over at Vincent again. His re-adoption of Davina was an act of kindness, and she could see how the young girl must have gone from gratitude to hero-worship to something deeper. She wondered if he knew that. Somehow, watching him clearly hitting on the huntress Alex – and her flirting back – she doubted that.

Somehow knowing love sucked for everyone else did _not_ make Bonnie feel better.

She flipped her hair back and smiled widely at Jeremy. He blinked at her in surprise.

"Wanna buy me another drink?"

* * *

"And that's Hayley Marshall-Kenner to complete the trio."

"A werewolf, a witch and a vampire walked into a casino…"

"I believe they call this place a game room."

"Same difference. So what do those three have in common?"

Jeremy shrugged, and finished his drink. "No idea. But Freya and Hayley have been friends since the others died; and when they resurrected Finn, he stuck by them. We hunters thinks there's more to it than just sibling loyalty and whatever alliance Hayley's wolves struck with Klaus. But whatever it is, it's a closely guarded secret."

Bonnie scowled hard at the three that were standing in the corner of the room, still and apparently engrossed in their roulette game.

"So vampire Finn and witch Freya are siblings. I'm still skeeved out about some long-lost sister turning up from the past, and one of the supposedly dead Original vampires resurrecting. What's stopping more from popping out of the woodwork? What's stopping _Kol_?" Her voice went up a slight octave at the last word.

A few people near them looked over at them. Jeremy gave her a worried look. "Bonnie…"

"How do you know so many people, anyway?" She asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"I told you," he said slowly, now eyeing the glass in her hand. "If you're constantly on the move like we hunters are, you get to meet just about everyone worth knowing in the supernatural world. Now, Bonnie-"

"And the Great O-so-powerful Gemini coven leader? Is he here? Have you met him? Do you think he's up to the scratch to break our Curse?"

He glanced around the room. "None of the Gemini are here. The coven is based in Portland. Even the few witches coming from out of state will already have home in some form of the other here. Besides they're probably caught up in some magical prep for tomorrow anyway." Her words finally registered, and he turned a sharp gaze to her. "Up to the scratch to break _what Curse_?"

Bonnie leaned forward, her hair falling over her face as she waggled her finger at him. "Nope. That would be telling, naughty boy."

Jeremy eyed the drink in Bonnie's hand again. "That's what number now?"

It took her a while to understand the question. Then she raised her glass and peered at it through bleary eyes. "Third? I think?"

"Third since when? Ten minutes ago?" He shook his head. "I think you've reached your limit."

She snorted. "Please. I can drink Damon under the table."

He scoffed. "Yeah, right."

She turned her attention from her moody preoccupation of the Michaelson-Marshall trio to glare at him. "Don't talk crap about my husband."

"I didn't say a word," he said mildly. "And you're not married yet," he added under his breath.

"I heard that. And you promised!" she wailed. "Jeremy, we were having so much fun and now you're ruining it."

More people were staring. Someone reached over and grabbed Bonnie's glass. She opened her mouth in protest – and found herself staring at the bartender's stern face.

"I'm cutting you off."

Bonnie glared at her. "Boohoohoo to you, too!"

The woman's mouth twitched and she eyed Jeremy. "He a buddy of yours?"

"The first love of my life!" Bonnie declared.

The woman and Jeremy burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Bonnie asked, confused.

"OK, Bon," Jeremy said, hopping off the stool and helping her down. Her heels were wobbly and she stumbled, falling against him. He caught her. For a brief moment, she reveled in the feel of his biceps around her back, the muscles against her front. Then he righted her, putting an arm around her shoulder companionably. He led her out of the place. "Let's get you to your room. What's your room number?"

She blinked at him. "I have no idea?"

He rolled his eyes. "Where's your key card?"

She tried to get it out of her purse, but her fingers were suddenly clumsy, so he took her purse. Then let out a rueful chuckle when he couldn't find it.

They were at the elevators by now. The lift car stopped and he waved the bellboy in it to send it right on.

"You left the room without your key card?"

Bonnie blinked again. "I did?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "Come on, Bonnie."

Her lips trembled. "Don't be mad at me."

He was immediately contrite. "I'm sorry-"

"Damon yelled at me. I was upset. He upset me. I upset him. Because of Abby. I don't even _like_ Abby." She sniffed, then glanced at him.

His face had darkened.

"Don't look like that," Bonnie scolded. Then she shivered. "I'm cold."

He pulled off his jacket at once, and wrapped it around her shoulders. The warmth was delicious, the scent of him familiar, and it filled her with nostalgia. Tears filled her eyes. "Thank you," she said softly.

He looked at her, his face strangely sad, but all he said was, "come on, Bon. Let's get you somewhere to lie down." He tucked her to his side and pressed the elevator call button again.

* * *

"This isn't my room," she said as soon as she stepped in.

"No," Jeremy said, "it's mine." He bent down to help her with her shoes. "You can use the bathroom, then sleep. I'll take the couch. Let me know-" The rest of his words were muffled shut when her lips pressed against his own.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 _*Bonnie's outfit is identical to what Kat Graham wore on the MTV Music Awards 2016, but with a different hairdo, not wavy and blonde but straight down her waist with colored streaks._

 _Thanks for the great feedback, guys! And I love that you're all asking for Long Shadows update. I'm working on it, but you know that story has looooooooong chapters. Any other update you'd like to read while I chip away at that particular block of text?_

 _Also, I know I already have toooo maanyyyyy stoooories but I've been thinking of starting a new one. It's one of three choices, so you guys choose:_

 _1\. Bonkai/Klonnie Notorious - a BK/TVD version of the Alfred Hitchcock movie/MI-2 movie where Kai is a Gemini heir that needs to recruit Bonnie Bennett in a mission to capture Klaus Mikaelson. He thinks he's recruiting her for her Bennett skills, but he later on finds out that he's recruiting her because she's Klaus's ex-girlfriend and her assignment is to re-kindle her relationship with the Original and honey-trap him._

 _2\. Bamonkai Human AU - all human AU that starts years after the plane crash/stranded-on-a-deserted-island moment in time that led to Bonnie & Damon, meeting the lost Gemini heir, Kai Parker. Now, Bonnie and Damon are on the cusp of starting a relationship when Damon's brother, Stefan suddenly dies in a car crash, making his wife and Damon's ex-girlfriend, Elena, a widow. As Bonnie is trying to understand what this means to her relationship with Damon, the story comes out that Stefan's death might not have been accidental after all and Kai is the primary suspect._

 _3\. Calling this one S8 AU for now: It started as a drabble on tumblr and blew up; and it's basically an AU where Kai lives and returned to Portland; most of s7 still happened, with slight differences and now Bonnie is trying to find Enzo and Damon. She's out of options, so she goes to Portland to ask Kai for help and she's not above bargaining with ... anything and everything for that help. Yeah, I don't really know where this is going but it would be fun to find out._

 _So I want to start at least one here on ff-net. You guys help me choose which. (And still choose which of my current wips you'd like an update of.) :D_


	7. In Vino Veritas

**Chapter Seven: In Vino Veritas**

If Jeremy had pulled away, Bonnie would probably have come to her senses and either run off in embarrassment or tried to laugh it off. But he didn't. He let the kiss go on – more than let it go on, he returned it with fervour for a long moment before he broke it off, his face as guilty as sin.

"Bonnie… no…" he said hoarsely.

"Come on, Jeremy," she said, smiling slow, sexy, as she watched his eyes stay frozen on her lips, noted that the arms that had automatically wrapped around her waist hadn't let go. A ruler couldn't pass between them and his body was all the evidence she needed to know just how badly he didn't want to stop.

"Bon…"

She kissed him again, but this time he broke it off before it got interesting.

"Damon…"

"Like you care about Damon," she giggled, as she leaned forward to nibble on her earlobe.

He moaned, and his hands on her waist shifted dangerously lower.

Her own hand stroked one of his amazing biceps – he was so _ripped_ – and she cooed into his cheek, "It's nothing we haven't done before."

Which was a mistake, she realized as soon as his hands stopped moving, and he let her go at once.

She stumbled and his hand came up to grab her elbow and steady her.

"Bon-"

"Don't touch me," she snapped, yanking her arm back, feeling humiliated.

His face was a mixture of guilt of bitterness and his hands flailed helplessly at his side.

"You'll thank me tomorrow," he said finally, his voice strained.

"Why? For safeguarding my virtue?" she laughed bitterly as she flipped her hair off her face.

His eyes seemed to drink in her face but then he shook his head.

"Bonnie, you're drunk."

"Not drunk enough that I don't know what I want. I'm a big girl, Jeremy. I can make my own bad decisions."

He scoffed. "Hooking up with your ex a few weeks before your wedding is more than a bad decision, Bonnie. It's relationship suicide."

He did not just say that to her! "Well you would know all about infidelity, won't you?"

Jeremy's face paled. Bonnie almost felt sorry.

Almost.

After a few moments of staring wordlessly at her, he nodded to himself then brushed by her and started walking to his bathroom. "Like I said, the bed is yours," his voice was icy. "If you need the bathroom, you'll just have to wait your turn…"

He slammed the door before Bonnie could yell at him that she had no intention of spending the night here at the scene of her humiliation. She waited all of ten seconds to hear the shower running, then she spun on her heel, almost tripping over her heels and marched out the door.

Only the door happened to lead into a closet. Bonnie blinked blankly at the sparse clothes in front of her, wondering what eccentric and doubtlessly over-priced designer had come up with this ridiculous floor plan idea of putting the closet in the passageway – then it clicked, and chuckling to herself, she turned to the second door.

This was opened, to her relief, into the passageway. Coming out of the dim silence of Jeremy's room, she reeled at the overheard lights and the noisiness before her.

There seemed to be people everywhere, talking and laughing, probably at her. The aura of so many magical essences seemed to beat down on her, all but tearing into her own psyche and she closed her eyes with a curse, as she tried to battle against the combined effects of alcohol, disorientation and her own emotional turmoil.

When she opened her eyes, the passageway was still noisy and crowed and too bright, but it was a little bearable. A couple of men passed her, and gave her curious looks, and she glared at them until they looked away and walked faster. When they had moved on, she smoothed her slightly creased outfit and started walking in the general idea of what she hoped were the elevators.

It took her a few moments to realize she had left her purse – with her phone – in Jeremy's room. And with it, any chance she had of getting in touch with Damon.

 _Damn!_

The idea of going back with scrapes of dignity to Jeremy, even for this, made her want to hurl.

Effing damn, she was a witch, wasn't she?

She started walking faster. She just needed somewhere private to do a locator spell, she figured to herself. A nagging voice in her head murmured that she didn't have the ingredients for a spell – and that it was dangerous to use magic in her state… But she refused to listen.

She made it to the elevators – _bingo!_ – and pressed the button, waiting for it to reach her floor. There was a small group beside her but she ignored them while they chatted in loud voices.

The doors open, and another crowd of people – werewolves, if their canine auras were any indication – stepped off, leaving a couple of women inside. The group beside her pushed in first, and she bit back the instinct to hex them for their rudeness. As she was waiting for them all to mill in, her eyes swept over the two women at the back. They were huddled together, their faces close enough to kiss as they whispered to each other.

Bonnie eyed them absentmindedly, wandering why they seemed vaguely familiar.

The last of her rude companions entered the lift and Bonnie was about to follow, when one of the women shifted a little and she got a good glimpse of their faces

Translucent, pale skin, long strands of curly dark tresses.

Straight blonde hair, and a buxom figure that even from this distance looked like it had a stick up its rear.

Bonnie spun on her heel, stumbled again in her heels, and started marching in the first direction her body chose.

"Hey!" she vaguely heard someone yell. "Aren't you coming in?"

But she only walked faster, her heart beating so rapidly that she felt she was going to throw up. Only when she heard the ping of the elevator and knew that the doors had closed again, did she stop and lean against a wall, as she struggled to catch her breath.

 _What the fuck were the odds?_ She asked herself. _Am I cursed? Did I dabble in one too many dark spells and jinx myself without knowing it?_

A door nearby started opening, so she pushed off the wall and started walking again, heading in the direction of Jeremy's room. She'd rather deal with his hypocritical condemnation of her any day than watch Nora Hidegarde canoodling with her true love and soul-mate Mary Louise.

Mary Louise who was supposed to be fucking dead.

Better Jeremy, Bonnie muttered to herself as she stopped in front of his door.

Sure Anna had popped up long enough to break them up. But after that, at least, Jeremy's own epic love had had the decency to stay dead.

* * *

She rapped at his door gently.

The passageway that had been so busy a few minutes before, had thinned out. If anything, the silence and the general sense of emptiness around Bonnie felt depressing.

She wrapped her arms around herself to still off the sudden chill. Sometime in their interlude, Jeremy's jacket had fallen off and she had left it in his room.

She rapped at his door again as she hugged herself tightly. She just needed to get inside. She could feel his aura – warm, almost hot to her inebriated state – his Hunter's magic beckoning her in a way that was almost surprising. She couldn't wait to get close to it.

She knocked harder. "Jeremy!" she hissed. "Open the fucking door."

But no number of urgent whispers and not-so-loud knocks was producing the desired effect. Bonnie was affronted. Had the jerk actually gone right back to sleep, knowing that his inebriated ex-girlfriend was wondering around the hotel full of supernaturals? So much for his weak ass attempt at chivalry.

Well, she damn well wasn't going to hang around this cold corridor waiting for his lazy ass to get up. She murmured an opening spell at the door and –

All the doors on the corridor opened ajar.

"Oops," she giggled, and quickly hopped into the one in front of her, shutting it behind her.

The room was dark and silent except for the sound of steady breathing. But it was easy enough to feel her way to the bed and collapse in there. She had long made up her mind to crash here. Let Damon go crazy worrying about her, she thought spitefully.

It flashed through her mind that she should find her purse, her phone and call Damon, and let him know where she was. Or, figuring she didn't want to crawl around the floor in the dark, groping around for her purse, she could wake Jeremy and ask him for his phone. Or she could even finagle the room phone that must be somewhere nearby and call the receptionist to get her in touch with Damon. That was the sensible, mature thing to do.

But the spiteful side in Bonnie won over. Let him suffer for a night. Besides the bed she was in just felt too comfortable to leave.

She pushed herself further into the blanket, and her side hit something large and warm.

It stirred.

"Great, you're awake," she grumbled.

A deep voice – deeper than she ever remembered Jeremy's voice going – murmured hoarsely. "Wha-"

"Just shut up. I'm not interested in you lecturing me, OK? And stay on your side of the bed. That ship has sailed, buddy."

She could feel him sitting up, staring down at her but she ignored him, and shut her eyes, gathering as much of the blankets to herself as possible.

Good idea, let him freeze.

"I don-"

Her eyes flew open. "You know what really pisses me off!" she shrieked. "Clearly, I have a type. I mean – I could have easily chalked _you_ up to just a bad experience, you know? What were the odds that your ex would rise from the grave to jinx our relationship? But then the same thing happened with Enzo's one true love – and she was a freaking human! A _human_ , Jeremy! What were the freaking odds of that happening?"

He said something incoherent which was good enough for Bonnie.

"I know! It was bad enough that I had to compete with the ghost of Lily Salvatore for three years but then _that_ happened and it sure put Lily in perspective. Then Elena rises up from the dead. Or is about to. I had thought hat I won't ever see her again in _my_ life. _He_ swore the Curse was loophole-proof. But the gods, the ancestors, fate, whatever you want to call _the Freaks Upstairs that clearly hate me_ , decided to play one more trick on dear old Bonnie."

She took a deep, shaky breath, and ignored the wetness that was forming on the sheets beside her cheek. "And if there are not using me to mark time for their dead true loves, then they're just using me. Period. What does it say about me that the only people I've ever been with that didn't have that weren't obsessed with someone else were people like Ben, Luka…" _Kol_. But her voice stuttered before she could say the word. Even now, drunk as she was, that deep, dark secret stayed locked inside her.

She swallowed against the bitterness in her throat. "I saw Mary Louise in the elevator and I don't even want to know the story behind _that_. I just… I just…" She sniffed and then smiled bitterly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Like I said, I have a type. Because clearly, nothing appeals to me more than that my significant other had some epic, true love with someone _else_. Some dead someone else. Who always manages to rise up from the dead just in time to screw me over."

There was silence from his end; but she could all but feel the shock vibrating out of every inch of his body.

She raised herself up to stare at him, and barely made out a bearded visage, staring back at her.

She groaned, and turned again, burying her face into the sheets.

"Yes, I know your sister's not dead! Jeez, Jeremy! What kind of monster do you think I am!" When he still said nothing, she sighed heavily, feeling like a worm. Great. "Yes, you probably already think I am just for who I'm sleeping with, right? Whatever. I'm already the lowest of the low for marrying her ex, so doubtlessly, I want her to stay dead for the duration of my life. Look, I never wanted what happened to Elena to happen, OK? It broke my heart." Her voice shook as the tears shed faster. "It killed me to think that I somehow brought this upon her. But … I wasn't going to let myself die for her, either, OK? I'd died too many times already. For her. For _you_." She almost choked over her bitterness. "Was it too much to ask that it was _my_ turn to be saved? _Her_ turn to be sacrificed?"

She scoffed then – or tried to. What bubbled out was a bout of laughter that sounded hysterical even to her ears. "Sacrificed? Oh my goodness. As if! Elena isn't dead. She's fucking _sleeping_. Or her mind wandering through a thousand lifetimes of doppelgangers, depending on who you ask. But the point is that Elena _fucking_ Gilbert is very much not dead! Very much sacrificed _nothing_ to keep me alive for a few _miserable_ decades longer!"

She choked and coughed, anger and grief strangling her. "I'm a freaking Bennett, Jeremy! I could make myself live for centuries, if I wanted to. But you should have seen the look on _his_ face when I made a joke about that. Oh boy, he didn't find that funny one little bit! Thought the bitch was going to pop out his eyeballs." She snorted. "He has such stupid eyes, Jeremy. I love him so much but someone needs to tell him that that thing he does with his eyes just makes him look crazy."

She waited for him to say something – anything. Yell at her for his sister. Pity her for her messed up life. But he remained silent. She waited though, and then maybe she had dozed off for a moment because when she came to, she couldn't feel his reassuring weight on the bed beside her.

Bonnie lifted her body to her elbows, eyes scanning the dark room in panic.

"Jeremy?" she whispered urgently.

For a moment, he said nothing and she felt her heart sink. Then she heard a soft grunt from across the room.

"I thought you had left me," she said, hoarsely. "Everyone leaves me." When he didn't say anything, she said, so quietly, she wasn't sure he would hear her. "Please don't leave me. At least, not for this night."

There was a long silence, then Bonnie felt the bed dip by her side, and a strong, warm hand clasped over her own. She clasped back, gratefully.

He had heard her, after all.

She said, tears in her voice, "Jeremy, I do love her, and I know, I _know,_ that despite everything that life threw at us, she did love me. But I love _him_ , too. And I just… I just wanted to share, you know? Not get in the way of their epic Love." She scoffed at herself. "I don't think I ever really believed he'd take the Cure, live the rest of his life with me… without her. But I just wanted… some kind of happiness of my own. Was that too much to ask?"

She answered her own question. "I guess not. I mean, didn't my own mother throw me over for first Elena, then Jamie? It actually makes all kinds of beautiful, perfect, horrendous sense."

He didn't say anything, just squeezed her hand gently.

"Don't leave me, OK?" she asked again.

He squeezed her hand again. She held onto it for dear life. She was still holding his hand when she finally, completely sank into depths of a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The first thing she consciously realized was that she was warm, heated from proximity to strong, ancient magic. It ought to have felt threatening, but it didn't. It was soothing, not unlike being bathed with the warmth and glow from a welcoming hearth.

The second thing was that there was far too much light. Blinding light, which tore through Bonnie's eyelids, waking her up from such blessed unconsciousness. She groaned, and tried to turn away from it but it was everywhere, a torch chasing her.

"Wakey wakey!" shouted a loud, unfamiliar voice that was far too cheery for this ungodly hour.

"Go away," Bonnie moaned.

"Where to? You're in _my_ bed."

That got enough of her attention for her to pry her lids apart. More light flooded in and she quickly shut them back, whimpering.

There was the sound of warm laughter, followed by what sounded like curtains being drawn and she sighed gratefully. She tried again to open her eyes.

There still seemed to be an unreasonable amount of light for… whatever time of the day it was supposed to be. But at least, she could see. And what she saw was a complete stranger, standing over her with his arms crossed.

In alarm, she sat up at once and instantly regretted it because she felt the meagre contents of her stomach rush into her throat.

"Uh oh, I know that look."

 _Bowl_ , Bonnie thought because if she opened her mouth, words weren't going to come out.

The stranger did one better. He leaned over and placed one large warm hand on her shoulder, squeezed a little, then the cream-coloured walls of the bedroom melted into patterned tiles, and Bonnie was no longer sitting on a stranger's bed, but kneeling on a stranger's bathroom floor and peering into a familiar porcelain bowl.

She opened her mouth to gasp – and threw up.

"Oopsy daisy," said the stranger with a deep chuckle but she felt a warm hand patting her back gently, and realized a moment later, that he was also holding her hair back, keeping it safely out of reach.

When she was finally done, she reached over and flushed the toilet, then sat back.

A stack of paper towels appeared below her nose, and she grabbed them gratefully.

"Thanks," she muttered when she was done, and tried to stand.

"No biggie."

He stretched out a hand to help and but she ignored it, stumbling to her feet. He stepped back to lean against the wall as she made her way to the sink and turned on the tap.

The water was icy, and as she splashed it on her face, she could feel the haziness and general feeling of sick receding, although her stomach still rumbled uncertainly.

To be fast replaced by a whopper of a headache and general feeling of 'I fucked up, didn't I?'

She peered in the mirror at the man behind her. He was barefoot in striped pyjamas – actual pyjamas. Tall, dark-haired, white-skinned, bearded. She supposed he did look like Jeremy – to a raging drunk – but under the beard, she could make out a sharp jaw, and eyes that were not warm brown but dark blue and a strange mix of intense and mischievous. There was something strangely familiar about him...

She turned off the tap and sighed.

"Please tell me that you're Jeremy's roommate."

"Sorry," Stranger said cheerfully.

"Oh fuck," she moaned.

"Oh, yeah," he said fervently. "That was awesome."

* * *

 _ **A/N** : Thanks for all the feedback on the polls. Been feeling a little low. Obvious reasons with what happened on Nov 8 but also some personal stuff. Need a little good vibes now so please let me know if you're still reading & enjoying._


	8. Walk of Shame

**Chapter Eight: Walk of Shame**

For a moment, his words didn't register. Then she raised her head sharply. " _What?_ "

"You weren't so bad yourself," he said reassuringly.

Her eyes goggled at his grinning reflection. "Is that some kind of joke?" she asked, disbelief and desperation warring in her. "I think I'd remember if I had sex with a complete stranger. I was not that drunk."

"Uh… Drunk or drugged enough to fall into bed with said complete stranger you mistook for your ex. Drugged enough to tell your whole life story to same. Not drugged enough to have sex without knowing. Gotcha."

"We didn't… I-I didn't… You didn't…"

"Well, I wasn't very sober myself and you crawled into my bed, put the moves on me…"

" _I did not! I would never-_ " She paused. Thought. Writhed inside as the stark memory of herself kissing Jeremy assailed her brain. "At least… I don't _remember_ …"

"I mean… look at you… and in that dress… What was a guy to do?" He raised his hands and shrugged helplessly.

Bonnie spun around in time to see the false look of contrition on his face and she felt her stomach churn with nausea.

No.

Her head was swirling, heat flushing through her body as her muscles locked with shock. It was one thing to come unto her ex-boyfriend in an impaired state - and she shuddered with retrospective embarrassment - but to crawl into bed and have sex with a complete _stranger_. To cheat on her fiancé? How could she?

How could she?

How could _he?_

Her fists clenched at her sides. "I was _drunk_ , you pervert. You practically…"

His guilty expression morphed into absolute mirth. "Oh the look on your face!" Apparently, it was so funny, that his shoulders shook, and he actually bent over with laughter.

Relief and irritation washed through Bonnie. She turned to the tap, scooped a cup of water in her hands, and flung it at the annoying man. It morphed into ice shards on its way to him and his laughter ceased when he hopped away with a yelp, but not before one nicked his arm.

"Hey!" he yelled. "No magic."

His own spiked a little, like a reflex.

Suddenly, she realized that he was the source of the magic that she had felt when she woke. The beacon, really, that had drawn her into the room in the first place.

Good lord, she had been really drunk last night, hadn't she? To have mistaken a Hunter's aura for a _Warlock_ 's? Now sober, she could feel the clear difference. And this guy… this guy was powerful. Just how much made her own magic rush through her in defensive awe.

"Who _are_ you?" she whispered.

"Isn't that my line? I'm the one who had to play host to some drunk who broke into his room last night, practically shoved me out of my own bed – thanks for that, by the way – and has thrown up god knows what drugs in my bathroom."

"Not drugs," she said, realizing that this was the second time he had accused her of being some wasted druggie, "alcohol."

One dark eyebrow went up. "A-ha. Such a big difference."

"You're kind of a jerk, do you know that?" she snapped, her awe returning quickly to irritation.

"And you're kind of a train-wreck, Bonnie Bennett."

Her heart slammed in her chest. "Wait… how did you know my name?"

He smirked. "You told me last night. That and – well, your whole life history, really. Damon must be going out of his mind with worry, wondering where his fiancé is."

The nightmarish memory of herself gabbling on and on and on last night assailed her. Heat burnt through her entire body. She literally felt embarrassed enough to throw up.

Uh oh. She was actually about to-

His eyes lighted up with alarm. "Incoming," he muttered, and before she realized it, he was by her side, yanking her to her knees in front of the toilet. Just in the nick of time, too.

He held her hair again, and his hand on her back was nice and warm even though he kept a steady, sarcastic stream as she hurled. "They have PSAs for this in schools, these days, right? … Not in college? So you're an actual adult with no excuses for your bad decisions? … They don't pay me enough for this… When this is over, someone's going to write me a check…"

She fought – hard – against the temptation to turn her face and hurl on his bare feet.

When she was finally done, he led her to the sink again – this time she took his hand.

After a few splashes of cold water on her face, she turned to him.

"Damon… my fiancé… did you call him?"

"Why the hell would I do that?"

She glared. "To let him know I'm OK. He must be out of his mind with worry."

He cocked his head. "So you do care for the poor jerk, after all," he mused. Before she could snap back a retort, he went on. "You're an adult… technically, I mean. Emotionally is a whole 'nother ball game. You explain yourself to your fiancé. You're not going to get me to do your dirty work for you."

He winked broadly at her outraged little gasp, and left the bathroom. He returned almost immediately with a soft pair of sweatshirts and a T-shirt, both clearly his.

"Let's mitigate the requisite walk of shame," he snarked, dumping them on the laundry hamper. "And a shower would do wonders for your general outlook and everyone's sense of smell."

Bonnie threw a hex that at his retreating back. He deflected so lazily that it made her snarl.

What a jerk.

* * *

The shower did help her feel better. She couldn't do anything about her hair – Mr. Jerk Warlock didn't have anything in his cabinet that could be useful. Anything in his cabinet at all, full stop. So she knotted her strands into a thick, messy braid and sighed with despair at the hours of detangling in her future. She couldn't do anything about the ill-fitting clothes either, just pulled the drawstring of his pants as tight as possible, and rolled up the dangling hems. She was commando underneath but it was either that or wear dirty underwear. At least his clothes were clean. They smelt nice, minty with just a whiff of incense.

She sighed at her reflection in the mirror, wishing she could do better about her appearance. She was grudgingly grateful that she wasn't stuck walking back to her room in last night's clothes. But still… She looked like a kid wearing her Dad's clothes. Alas, Bonnie had learnt the hard way that while she could stop a beating heart, set monsters on fire with her mind and cause a car to crash with the crook of her finger… she was hopeless when it came to magical grooming skills.

She sighed again, then turned, squared her shoulders and stepped out of the bedroom.

She expected to see Mr. Jerk Warlock – expected actually to be greeted with loud laughter and a sarcastic compliment on her appearance.

But the room was empty. Completely. He was gone.

Something shiny caught her eye – and she turned, to stare at a trail of what looked like star dust floating from the ceiling to hover over the room telephone.

Feeling irritated – she didn't need what amounted to a magical neon sign to find the phone – she stamped over to it.

Next to the phone was a sticky note.

 _Free Advice. No charge._

She snatched it off. There was another one underneath.

 _1 – Don't drink and stumble drunk into stranger's rooms._

There was another one underneath.

 _2 – You and your fiancé should get some pre-marriage counselling._

And another…

 _3 – To be a fly on the wall when you see him this morning. Oh wait, I'm a witch. I can literally be a fly on the wall. Bzzzzz._

 _4 – If you're mad now, then wait and see how awkward this is going to get._

 _P.S. Say hi to Lucy for me. And tell her this counts as a twofer._

That was the last one. Bonnie stared at it, hard and long, trying to figure out what it meant. Who the hell this guy was that apparently knew Lucy.

Then she admitted to herself, she was stalling. She called the hotel information, and got her own room number information. They offered to send someone to her room to let her in but Bonnie turned them down. The operator also offered to call Damon's cell – apparently he had left a report about her disappearance, but Bonnie begged them not to, writhing with guilt as she did.

She stepped out of Jerk W.'s – what was his name anyway? – room and rode the elevators to her floor.

With every step closer to her room, to Damon's presence that she could sense close by, Bonnie felt her heart sink closer and closer to the bottom of her feet, as her bad decisions of the previous night assailed her.

Drinking hard. Knowing how she got when she did.

Coming onto Jeremy. What would she have done if he hadn't stopped? Bonnie's face burnt with shame just remembering. What did _he_ think of her? What would Damon have thought of her?

What did she think of herself?

Stumbling drunk into Jeremy's – what she had thought was Jeremy's – room and crashing there because she saw Nora and her girlfriend. Bonnie had never been in love with Nora. Had been more intrigued and flattered by the heretic's attention than she had returned it. So why had she let the sight of the two women get under her skin? Gone on that mental tailspin, ranted her whole sorry life's story to a _total stranger_ even if she _had_ thought it was Jeremy at first.

She stopped abruptly in front of her door, as she recalled Mr. Jerk/Stranger/Who The Hell Was That Guy? She had had that sense of knowing him from somewhere, but at the same time, Bonnie couldn't think of how she could possibly forget meeting someone like him. She remembered his mocking personality, such a turn-off from an otherwise extremely attractive face and body. The kind of guy you'd pick up at a bar, have crazy sex with all night long, then couldn't get away from fast enough the next morning because of his complete lack of brain-to-mouth filter.

She shook her head, startled at her wondering thoughts. It was just curiosity and extreme irritation at the situation. She had revealed more about herself than… anyone really… to this absolute stranger and she didn't even know his name. She should have asked the hotel when she had the chance, while she was calling from that room. Now it would just be awkward.

She sighed again and stared bleakly at the door. She was stalling. Again.

She started casting the unlocking spell for her room – when the door flew open.

Damon stood behind it, his eyes wild with fright. Which melted away into anger at the sight of her.

"Where have you been?" he bellowed, then he grabbed her, folding her into his body in a bear hug.

* * *

Bonnie had returned the hug whole-heartedly, thankful that despite Damon's clear irritation at her, he was more relieved than angry.

"I'm so sorry," she muffled into his shirt. "I didn't take my keycard. Then I lost my purse. Then I crashed in some stranger's room."

He yanked her back and stared hard at her, taking in her strange clothes. "What stranger? What happened, Bonnie? Jeremy Gilbert – of all people – called me telling me that he had lost you…"

She felt her face heating. "W-what did Jeremy tell you?"

He ran a hand through his hair impatiently. "That you had too much to drink and didn't have your key-card or remembered the room number. He took you to his place to sleep it off but you ran off when he was in the bathroom…"

 _Thank you, Jeremy_ , Bonnie thought with relief, while she kept her eyes wide and earnest on Damon's face.

"…You left your purse – he returned it by the way – so he called me with your phone. I left the casino to come over here at once. We've been worried sick. I reported to the Hotel. I called Lucy…"

"Wait, wait a moment."

He paused. "What?"

"Back up a sec. You left the casino? You mean at the time Jeremy called you, you still weren't back?"

He squinted at her in confusion. "I was making the rounds with some vamps I met here. I asked you to join me, remember?"

Bonnie glared at him, pulling completely out of his embrace. "I did. I waited for you all evening at the game room. You never showed up."

Confusion filled his face – then shame. "Oh, I remember. When we left to the casinos down the road, I was going to text you the location, but the first one we got into didn't have an empty table, so we moved again and then…" His voice trailed off. "Now you're giving me the look."

"I. waited. for. you." She grated out. "I felt like an idiot, sitting at the bar, dressed for a date that had clearly stood me up, while everyone around me had a good time."

He threw up his hands. "I'm sorry, BonBon, OK? I didn't mean to leave you hanging. It's just been a while since I've cut loose and just had fun. I got carried away."

She flinched. "Been a _while_? So when we're together, we don't have _fun?_ "

He eyed her warily. "OK, that was _not_ what I said."

"That's what you implied. That you haven't had fun… or _cut loose_ in a while. What does that mean? You're bored with me? You're _stifled_ with me?"

Her voice wobbled with anger, dammit, not with the start of tears.

But Damon must have assumed the later because, despite his clear wariness, he reached to embrace her. "Hey, Bonnie, calm down…"

She side-stepped him and walked jerkily further into the room. "Don't touch me."

"Don't be ridiculous!" he snapped, his voice rising. "You're over-reacting. I asked you to come, didn't I?"

"To somewhere you were soon leaving – if you hadn't already left. Then you proceeded to ignore all my calls and texts."

Still moving jerkily, she went to the closet and started yanking out drawers, trying to find where he had shoved away her clothes. She found a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and threw them on the bed. She hunted for underwear.

"I didn't ignore your texts," Damon said with a growl. "Last night was one non-stop constant party. I didn't hear anything."

"The deaf vampire." Bonnie scoffed as she found her underwear and tossed it on the bed, too. She started pulling off Mr Jerk W.'s clothes. "Gotcha."

"Bonnie…" His voice trailed off and she knew he was eyeing her naked body underneath.

He was behind her in a flash, his large hands warm on her waist. "Come on, let's not fight."

She elbowed him. Added a little magic too to give it juice.

He bent over, with a yowl. While the hex worked its way through his nervous system, she shimmied into her clothes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he finally managed to roar as he straightened up.

"What's wrong with me? _What's wrong with you_? You humiliated me last night! Do you know how pathetic it was for me to fend off guys from hitting on me because I dressed 'sexy' for you? Do you know how ridiculous I felt defending you to Jeremy?"

A light went off in his eyes and his face turned ugly. "Little Gilbert got under your skin, huh? Yeah, that part confused me. You went up to his room … why? Why didn't you guys go to the front desk and call information?"

It was on the tip of Bonnie's tongue to let him have it. Tell him that she had gone to Jeremy's room for the express purpose of having sex with Jeremy. Let Damon lose his mind over that. She wasn't in the least worried about Jeremy. The man she had met last night was a seasoned vampire Hunter, a far cry from the little boy from high school. He could take care of himself.

Only won't doing that – dragging Jeremy into this drama – be proving right every sceptical misconception that he had insinuated about her relationship with Damon?

Unbidden, Bonnie's mind flashed at the image that started all this mess. The one that haunted her dreams, poisoned her relationship with Damon. The image that would never leave her.

Damon passed out drunk, Elena's picture beside his dangling fingertips.

Was it a misconception if it was the truth?

Bonnie eyed Damon now as he approached her, his voice hardening with suspicion. "And you still haven't told me where you spent the night. Not at Gilbert's clearly. Not at Lucy's either, because she's been blowing up your phone all morning. Apparently there was some Gemini ceremony we were supposed to attend that we've missed, thanks to you."

"Thanks to me?"

"And then you stroll in here wearing some other man's clothes. Where the hell were you last night, Bonnie Bennett?"

He loomed over her now, palpable rage bursting out of his aura.

Bonnie revelled in it, in his obvious jealousy.

"Won't you like to know?" she asked sweetly.

His hands clamped on her arms, holding her so fiercely that she knew it'd leave bruises. His nostrils were flaring.

For the first time since the sight of him pining over Elena's old picture, Bonnie felt her body heat up with arousal for her fiancé.

"I'm not going to ask you again, Bonnie," he growled.

She lifted up her chin, and reached out a hand to lie flat on his chest. "You went to have your fun last night. So I went to have mine."

He grabbed her hand and yanked her to him. She could feel his hardness at once. Just as she expected. With Damon, possessiveness and lust went hand in hand. It was pretty much how her relationship with him had started – with him being the third wheel to her and Enzo … until he wasn't.

It was pretty much how Elena's relationship with him had started as well.

The thought was like cold water pouring over her, and quenching away any excitement. She yanked at her hand. "Damon."

He refused to let go. "Don't play with me, Bonnie," he gritted out. "You want to throw the idea of you sleeping around at my face…"

"Who said it was an idea?" Bonnie snapped, angrily.

His eyes darkened and he let go of her hand to grab her face and kiss her.

"No," Bonnie muttered but he was firm, his hands threatening to press into her skull and holding her in place, forcing his tongue inside her mouth as he mapped her mouth with his own.

After a few seconds, she stopped struggling and let him. His kiss turned even more intense, then his lips moved to her neck, nibbling and tonguing, and making her skin crawl.

"It was just some guy whose name I didn't get," she gasped out. "Borrowed the clothes from him."

"And you slept with him," he muttered. His hands had moved from her face, to stroke and cup her curves, and now they clasped her waist and yanked her harder into his body.

"No!" she said, her voice strangled. She was trembling, and the nausea from earlier had returned. "I would never… Just said that to get under your skin… Damon, let me go…"

"Well, it worked," he muttered, yanking at her belt. "Lucky you."

"Stop," she said weakly, turning her face away as his mouth sought hers again.

"Why the hell should I, _wifey_?"

"Damon…"

But she knew how this would end. He would override her protests, plying his mouth and his hands on her until he got her body past the point of no return. He always got her to want him back, want him badly enough that the resentment that sandwiched the actual sex, seemed insignificant to it. Sure, it took him a little longer every time to get her there…

But he always did, in the end.

Bonnie closed her eyes and sighed, feeling his fingers tracing the lace of her underwear. She had wanted this, hadn't she? Even if, thinking about Elena – her body stiffened, but his hands cupped her breasts until she softened again – had turned her off.

Best to just give in and enjoy it.

"That's my girl," Damon murmured as she turned her face to him and kissed him, her mouth warm and open for him.

The kiss was long and dragging, making her body limp and pliant in his arms. Slowly, Bonnie felt the last vestiges of resentment recede into the far recesses of her mind. Not vanish, of course, just quieten enough for the moment. She sank deeper into his embrace.

Then she felt magic– familiar and irritated – slide over her.

She and Damon were flung apart.

Bonnie fell on the bed with a soft thump. Damon crashed into the opposite wall.

"What the fuck?" Damon yelled, as he and Bonnie turned shocked faces to Lucy Bennett, elegant in a red gown, standing with arms folded in the middle of their room, a look of utter disgust on her face.

* * *

"Fuck is the right word, apparently. Can't you keep it in your pants long enough to get through one lousy meeting?"

Bonnie was hurriedly buckling her jeans, and generally smoothing down her dishevelment – until Lucy snapped at her that she needed formal wear for the ceremony. So she rushed to the closet and started digging. Damon had got to his feet, his clothes barely even creased, to glare down at Lucy.

"I'm not changing a bloody thing."

"Fine," Lucy snapped. "Then you're not coming."

They glared at each other for a long moment, then he strode the closet, pulled out a suit, and started stripping there and then in front of his fiancé's cousin.

Lucy gave him a look of utter disgust and turned her back to him, moving her glare to Bonnie who had just passed him with her new outfit.

"I'll be right out," she managed, retreating into the bathroom.

When she stepped out, Damon was ready, looking like something out of GQ in his suit. If not for what went down moments ago, Bonnie would have felt like jumping him. As it was, she nodded curtly, and cringed as his eyes roved over her figure in the black, slinky halter-necked dress with the thigh-high slit.

"Your hair's a mess," Lucy snapped.

"What a shame," Bonnie snapped back as she fumbled with her jewellery at the dresser.

Lucy drew in a quick, angry breath.

"I didn't get any of your messages," Bonnie said, before her cousin exploded. "And yesterday, you said the meeting was today, not this morning in particular."

"I sent you a message last evening," Lucy snapped, but she had come to stand behind Bonnie at the dresser, and she loosened the pony-tail with quick impatient tugs. Bonnie could feel the tremor of magic passing from her cousin's hand into her hair.

"Like I said, I didn't get any of your messages." Bonnie glared at her cousin's reflection, and at the image of her own hair as the strands smoothened, and suffused with shine, and then they rose on their own to coil around her head in a perfect, flawless coiffure.

 _Not my style. Too elaborate_ , she thought, filled with more resentment than gratitude at her cousin's help.

"It's almost noon. Isn't the ceremony over yet, anyway?" Bonnie snipped.

"It hasn't started. Lucky for you the Coven leader was delayed this morning. We have," Lucy glanced at her watch, "less than five minutes to get to the main hall in time for the Presentation."

"Oh joy," Bonnie said sarcastically, and turned to pass Lucy.

Lucy yanked at her cousin's arm, turning her to her with a yelp.

"Watch it!" Damon snapped, coming forward.

Lucy ignored him. "Do you know how. big. a. deal. it is for the leader. of. the. Gemini. Coven. to. owe. you. a. favour? Do you have any clue the opportunities I am _throwing away_ for your ungrateful ass?"

"Don't know. Don't care," Bonnie retorted.

Lucy looked ready to explode.

Bonnie took a step forward. "Since it's such a big deal to you, why don't you shove your favour up your ass and Damon and I get back to our lives? "

"Now wait just a minute, Bonnie," Damon said, hastily. "Don't get carried away."

Lucy did look at him then, her eyes calculating, then she turned back to Bonnie with a triumphant gaze.

Bonnie swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat, and shoved past her cousin, making sure to shoulder her hard as she did. She grabbed her purse from the bed and made for the door.

"Are you guys coming or not?"

* * *

A/N: Thanks the reviewer that said they loved petty Bonnie. I love her too. This story has been a joy to (re) write. :D :D


	9. Common Courtesy

**Chapter Nine: Common Courtesy.**

* * *

The venue was a cathedral-like edifice located somewhere in the heart of Portland. At least, Bonnie assumed that was where it was located. She had no idea where they were. None of them did. Lucy had led them to the game room from the night before, which had been deserted save for a shimmering blue portal where the bar should have been.

The portal opened onto the steps of the cathedral, before its large, ornate decidedly shut doors. While they waited for the great Gemini coven to literally open their doors to welcome them, they loitered on the steps and the grounds with the other masses of supernatural guests. Bonne recognized a few familiar faces from the night before, but she barely knew a fraction of a percentage of the people here.

It hit her with a great deal of shock and even greater impending embarrassment that she could bump into Mr. Jerk Warlock here. She stayed close to Damon, and kept her head bowed, trying not to make eye contact with anyone while furtively looking out for a familiar, tall and dark-haired wizard.

His aura had been so powerful, she'd be able to sense it if it was near. She tried to reach out and actually look for it – then realized with a shock that her powers were muted. She couldn't cast anything stronger than a light levitation spell.

Bonnie told Lucy and Damon this in a hushed, frantic voice.

Damon looked shocked, tried to drop his fangs, realized that he couldn't and looked outraged.

"Calm down, both of you," Lucy said, her voice sounding amused. "We're on Gemini hallowed ground now. Of course, none of our powers are going to work. You want this place to turn into a bloodbath the moment some idiot vampire makes some lewd joke about bitches to a werewolf pack?"

"When are we getting our powers back?" Damon demanded.

"When we're done with the Ceremony, and walk back through the Portal. We were lucky to have got here in time," Lucy breathed, looking at the other guests. "The _Intampina_ has not commenced. He must be running later than we imagined."

"The what now?" Damon hissed, eying the crowd, warily. Bonnie knew that he would have been uneasy being surrounded by so many other supernaturals even with his powers. Now, without his powers, he felt extremely jumpy.

"The Welcome Ceremony," Lucy answered him distractedly. Her eyes lit up as a group of people approached them; and as the other two watched, she stepped forward to embrace – Bonnie stifled a gasp – Vincent Griffin. "Vincent! Or should I say, Regent?"

It was indeed Vincent Griffin – the first man who had hit on Bonnie the night before – the one that Jeremy had introduced as the Regent of the Nine Covens of NOLA.

A few feet behind him hovered a small group of also familiar people – Freya and Finn Mikaelson, Hayley Marshall-Kenner and the little witch with the evil eye for Bonnie, Davina Claire. The first three watched Vincent and Lucy with idle curiosity, not coming forward to be introduced.

Davina though – her sights were set on Bonnie with a glare hard enough to burn.

What was the girl's problem?

Instinctively, Bonnie moved in closer to Damon, who was also watching Lucy and Vincent and didn't notice Davina's fixation on her.

Vincent Griffin was laughing with Lucy, his eyes twinkling. "Vincent would be just fine. I'm surprised to see you here. It's said that the lofty Bennetts believe these meetings to be beneath them."

As one the idly curious gazes of the other people turned sharply on Lucy.

If Lucy noticed, or was bothered by being 'outed', she didn't act it. She just laughed, tossing her hair rather flirtatiously. "Are you indirectly trying to ask me what I'm doing here?"

Vincent laughed again, but his twinkling eyes never left Lucy's face.

"I came for the food, much like the rest of you." She winked at him, then turned to Bonnie, waving her over. "Meet my cousin, Bonnie Bennett."

Vincent's eyes went from Lucy's to Bonnie's with such speed and intensity that Bonnie felt her face burn.

And she noticed that the Originals and their companion werewolf and witch were also staring. Only while Vincent radiated mostly curiosity and remnants of his interest from the night before – the others radiated hostility.

Bonnie took a step back, right into Damon whose arm went around her waist at once. She clung to it gratefully.

"I take it you already know each other," Lucy said, uncertainly.

Freya Mikaelson spoke first. "I never had the pleasure of making Ms. Bennett's acquaintance." Her words were stilted, slightly old-fashioned, but Bonnie could tell that it was not out of habit but an attempt to mask her emotions. "Although I have heard much of the woman responsible for the destruction of my family."

"Now wait just a minute," Damon snapped, stepping forward. "If you're talking about Kol…"

"Our brother," Freya Mikaelson said coldly. "Who was betrayed and destroyed not once but twice by this same woman."

Bonnie's heart jumped. His sister couldn't possibly now, could she? Kol had promised her, Bonnie… He'd swore… that he'd keep that a secret forever.

 _And you trusted him?_ Her inner voice mocked her. _After all the diabolical things he's ever done to you, breaking a pinky oath is what scandalises you?_

"Hey," Lucy said sharply.

They were causing a scene, and people were noticing. Heads turned, then bodies came closer as whispers spread across the crowd like wild fire.

Bonnie heard her name in those whispers.

 _Bonnie Bennett._

 _Kol Mikaelson._

 _Silas._

 _Prison Worlds._

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Damon snarled. "Your brother was a monster and I did the world a favour when I took off his head."

He ignored Bonnie's desperate attempts to hush him, to rein him in, as the crowd around them thickened.

Freya lifted her gaze from Bonnie long enough to look at Damon. "It is well for you, vampire, that all our powers are useless here."

Damon lifted his arm from Bonnie's waist to crack his knuckles together. "Let's do it old school then. Fair warning though – I hit back."

Hayley stepped forward, blocking Freya and Finn who had both charged at Damon's taunt. "Shut up, Damon. You have no idea what you two cost this family, what you cost …"

Her words trailed off and with a low shout, she really did throw herself at Damon, her right hand striking his jaw before Vincent dragged her back.

Bonnie tried to catch Damon's sleeve but it was too late as he was already charging forward. He collided with Finn Mikaelson; the two men fell to the ground with blows; and Bonnie was screaming uselessly, as the others watched on when…

Everything stopped.

* * *

Bonnie felt her own scream caught off, even though her mouth was open and her breath had frozen in her lungs. Her eyes were trained on Damon, who was also frozen mid-rumble with Finn Mikaelson. From the corner of her vision, she could see that every one was as the same – static.

Then she felt it – the tingle of a Tempus charm, and the aura of its casters approaching.

"Disgraceful," said a woman's voice. Bonnie's head was still bowed towards Damon and the spell kept her frozen in that position. She couldn't see anything beyond an elegant pair of high heels and the golden hem of a dress.

Beside those high heels, walked a set of smart gentleman's shoes, then two sets of smaller heels.

"You can't expect us to gather all the supernaturals across the country, regardless of their feuds and rivalries, and not expect a scene or two," said a man's voice.

"I hope they'd have at least have lasted beyond the _Intampina,_ " the woman snapped.

"They would have, if our brother hadn't been running late."

There was an impatient sound, probably from the woman. "What was his excuse this time? Does anyone know where he even was last night?"

"More like whom," said a young woman's voice, followed by a giggle that was joined by another.

"Don't be disrespectful," the man said sharply, shushing them. "That's the leader you're talking about. When your time comes, you'll –"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we be done already? This spell won't hold indefinitely, Mother."

"You do it, Martha."

Then Bonnie felt a wave of magic, and Damon and Finn vanished.

She cried out, her voice breaking through the spell for a second before it froze again.

The four figures – who had been turning to leave – halted, and then turned sharply at her.

"What … how…?" asked a fourth voice – another young woman's.

"Bennett," whispered the man.

Bonnie felt a tingle down her spine, then she broke out of the Tempus spell, stumbling a little then straightening up to stare into the faces of the four witches who were clearly from the Gemini coven.

The woman was tall, with blonde curls, a stern face, and probably scant years younger than Bonnie's own mother. The man beside her was also tall but dark-haired, and younger, closer to Bonnie's age but older. The two young women – girls really – looked like smaller versions of the older woman.

There was a familiar look in their faces and stance, and Bonnie figured she'd have guessed they were related even if their earlier words hadn't given them away. There was also something familiar about them – Bonnie felt like if she had either met them before, or should have recognized them.

"Bonnie Bennett, I presume," the man started but Bonnie caught him off.

"Where the hell did you send my fiancé to?"

The two young women gasped. "Your fiancé is one of the _vampires_?"

The older woman, who had been looking at Bonnie with neutral curiosity, drew herself up frostily. "A holding cell for guests who breach the rules of the _Sollemne Dioskouri_."

"A cell? Wait, Damon didn't do anything wrong. We weren't told of any rules!"

"Common courtesy always goes without saying," the older woman retorted.

"No public brawls," the man said mildly.

"Did she really say one of those vampires is her fiancé?" whispered one of the girls to the other, loud enough that Bonnie heard.

Bonnie balled her hands into fists. " _My fiancé, Damon Salvatore_ was provoked. He was defending me. Bring him back and he'll tell you so himself."

" _You_ also seem to be lacking in common courtesy," the woman snapped. "And since you've just confessed to be the cause of the commotion, I have half a mind-"

Her brother grabbed her wrist. "Micah, she's a Bennett."

The woman's nostrils flared as she regarded Bonnie, and Bonnie flinched instinctively – without magic there was nothing she could really do to defend herself – but the woman visibly conceded to her brother.

"Fine," she snapped, snatching her wrist from him. The two girls stared at their mother with surprise, then turned to look at Bonnie was something akin to admiration mixed with their curiosity.

"Mother, who…?"

Their mother's eyes never left Bonnie's as she spoke in frosty tones. "Bennetts are descendants of Qetsiya, who as you probably know, used to be one of the founders of this coven until she broke away with the Travellers. And even that was too big to hold her. Which turned out to be a general rule for the lot of her kind." Her lip curled. "Somewhere along the line a descendant of Qetsiya's founded the Bennett family, their most powerful strain and the only ones who have survived to date. Not affiliated with any coven, they are a rule unto themselves and anyone they get into their heads to help or foil."

"Nice to meet you, too," Bonnie said coolly. "And you are?"

The woman looked so affronted at needing an introduction that it was all Bonnie could do not to laugh.

Her brother quickly stepped forward. "Micah Parker, my older sister. Her daughters – Josie and Lisa Parker, and my humble self, Joe Parker. We are all members of the Gemini Coven." There was a beat, then he smiled. "It's an honour to meet you, Bonnie Bennett. I've heard a great deal about you."

Bonnie barely heard the compliment, her mind spinning at the name.

"Parker?" She repeated. "As in Luke Parker?" The question was partly rhetoric. Now that she knew, she could so easily on their faces why they had seemed so familiar. The family resemblance to her old fake pupil was strong.

Micah's eyes which were all but slitting with disapproval, suddenly widened. "You knew my brother?"

Shock ran through Bonnie. "Luke is dead?"

"I asked the question," Micah said sharply.

Bonnie was too surprised to be affronted. Her mind was filled with memories of Luke Parker – the West Coast-tanned freshman at Whitmore. When she had first met him, he was easy-going, floppy-haired, and harmless but brimming with incredible potential that she could sense even as an Anchor - more so as an Anchor that was attuned so intimately with the supernatural. At least she had got that part right about him, even though she had been wrong about everything else.

Because Luke wasn't just a member of this millenia-old coven. He was part of the ruling family.

And Bonnie had taken on the 'noobie' witch as her protege.

What a joke.

"I didn't know him," Bonnie said truthfully. "Is he dead?"

"No," Joe said after a short pause during which Micah's face darkened. "Our brother is… he is… We are…" He floundered, clearly searching for the words.

"Estranged?" One of the young girls quipped.

Both adults shot her a glare but she merely shrugged. "Well, it's true, isn't it?"

Micah sniffed in disapproval, clearly unhappy with this conversation. "If you'll excuse us, Ms. Bennett, we have a ceremony to prepare. The Tempus spell will cease shortly." She turned on her heel to go.

With one last curious look on her daughters' part, and one apologetic smile from her brother, the other three turned with her.

"What about my fiancé?" Bonnie asked quickly.

"He'll re-join you after the Ceremony," Micah said dismissively.

"That's not good enough!" Bonnie snapped. "I want him back-"

And she fell silent, her jaw slackening as the four vanished into thin air.

* * *

There was a tingle in the air and the frozen people all around her snapped to, continuing with their words and actions as if they had never stopped.

It took them a short while to realize that Finn and Damon were gone.

Lucy listened in outrage at Bonnie's explanation. "The Parkers personally intervened?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Is that supposed to matter? I want to know where they took Damon."

Lucy stared at Bonnie as if she had grown a second head. " _Is that supposed to matter?_ We're talking about the ruling family of the coven. We're talking about Micah, the oldest sister, who some still see as the _de facto_ ruler…"

"I don't care about this creepy coven's politics!" Bonnie fumed. "I want to know where the hell Damon is."

"I hope they locked him up in a Prison World and he's dying there over and over again."

The words were hissed at her with a voice as spiteful as a snake's.

Bonnie looked up in shock into the wrathful face of Davina Claire.

After realising that Finn and Damon had been taken, Freya and Hayley had backed off, shepherded away by Vincent who had thrown Lucy and Bonnie half-apologetic looks. They hadn't seemed particularly worried about Finn's whereabouts. Bonnie hadn't noticed the witch Davina Claire leaving with them, but she had assumed that she had.

Only she was wrong, and the dark-eyed girl was standing before Bonnie, glaring at her so hatefully that Bonnie recoiled.

"Who the hell are you?" Bonnie cried.

Davina's face reddened, and she drew in a deep breath, clearly ready to let out whatever grouse she had with Bonnie…

When there was a loud, deep toll from the bells over the cathedral.

All turned as one as the large doors creaked open. Then the crowd surged forward.

Davina gave Bonnie one last wrathful stare, then she hurried off.

Lucy grabbed Bonnie's elbow and started dragging her up the steps.

Bonnie dug her heels in.

"Bonnie, move," Lucy barked.

"No," Bonnie snapped. "I'm not going anywhere without Damon."

"You'll get him back after the Ceremony."

"And what the hell is happening to him all that time? Lucy, I have to find him."

"Bonnie, there's no time…"

"No, Lucy!" Bonnie yanked her elbow away and turned on her heel, walking rapidly down the steps. "I have to find him."

Lucy stopped to turn around, her face a picture of disbelief. Around them the crowd was thinning as more people entered the cathedral. "Find him? _How?_ With no powers, you can't do a tracking spell. You have no idea where to start. Where the heck this place even is. And if you miss the Ceremony and offend the Gemini _even further_ , so help me, not even a favour owed to me will get the leader to help you…"

"I've never cared about that! That's your problem, not mine!"

"No, it's not. It's yours and Damon's. Do you think he'll forgive you if he found out you deliberately sabotaged your chances?"

Bonnie froze half way down the steps.

Lucy's disbelieving laugh preceded her as she reached Bonnie. "You're stalling, aren't you? Latching on this excuse to bail from the Ceremony. Bail from meeting the leader…"

"I'm trying to save my fiancé," Bonnie said through frozen lips. "I'm sorry that that's so hard to believe…"

Lucy walked around her so that she stood on the steps below Bonnie, looking up into the younger woman's face.

When she spoke, her voice was stern.

"Damon is fine and you know it. He's probably cooling his heels off somewhere; being forced to play chess with Finn is the worst thing they could be happening to him right now. That and kicking himself for letting his temper get the better of him at this time. He's banking on you to seeing this through and you're letting him down. If you leave now, you might never get a second chance with the Gemini."

Bonnie was outraged. "How dare you try to guilt trip me? I never wanted…"

"But you came here all the same!" Lucy threw up her hands in frustration. "No one held a gun to your head, Bonnie Bennett."

Bonnie's jaw fell open. "Are you for real?" she shrieked.

But Lucy went on. "I might have twisted your arm a little-"

" _A little_!"

"- but you could always have said no. You could have said No to me. You could have said No to Damon. Abby would have backed you up."

"You knew about Abby?"

"She told me so herself. She forbade me from bringing you here. You could have let her back you up anytime you wanted."

"You have some nerve…"

"But _you_ chose to come and now you're trying to back out." Lucy shook her head in frustration, and pointedly glared beyond Bonnie's shoulder at the entrance to the cathedral.

Bonnie could tell from the silence around them that most of the crowd had entered. They were the only ones left.

Lucy's gaze turned pleading. "For goodness sake, Bonnie, you agreed to this and now you're just acting like a brat throwing a tantrum. You're an adult. Act like it. _Let's go._ "

Bonnie snapped her jaw shut. Then she brushed past Lucy and kept on walking.

"Bonnie! Bonnie!"

She didn't stop.

* * *

 **To be continued. Thanks for the feedback. Please keep them coming. :D**


	10. Travelling Companions

**Chapter Ten: Travelling Companions.**

 _6 years ago_

 _A trio of witches – two about her own age, one much older, were waiting for the Anchor._

 _When Bonnie saw them standing by the entrance to her dorm hall, she heaved a sigh and turned around, walking off the path, towards the isolated spot of ground at the back of the hall._

 _She hated the groups._

 _The trauma increased exponentially – their fears and pain feeding off each other. Singly, a dead supernatural came to her humbled, not ashamed to show they were scared, to ask her for comfort which she gave every time, regardless of how weak she felt, how much she dreaded their passage through her. But in a pack, they didn't want to need her, relying instead on whatever bonds had held them to each other in this life – bonds of love, bonds of hate – that had brought them to the same end._

 _When she reached a good spot, out of sight of windows, somewhere far enough that her cries won't send anyone running, Bonnie stopped and turned around to face the dead._

 _She held out her hands and fixed the benevolent smile she had perfected for almost a year on her face. "Don't be afraid," she said gently._

 _"Watch out, love."_

 _The voice behind her startled her, but she didn't show it. Nor did she acknowledge it. Ignoring Kol Mikaelson's constant presence, the devil whispering in her ear, taunting her at every turn, was also something she had perfected during this time._

 _When Bonnie had turned down his offer and had lifted back the veil, Kol had vowed to make himself the bane of her existence, to haunt her forever on the Other Side. He had kept his promise. His presence the one constant in her life as she was transformed from a fading Ghost to a wretched Anchor._

 _"Come," she asked the three standing before her, eyeing her curiously. "Don't be afraid."_

 _"Bonnie…" Kol said and if she hadn't known better, she would have said his voice sounded worried, like if he was cautioning her._

 _"We're not afraid," the oldest of them said, stepping forward and stretching out his arms. Bonnie's eyes fell on the tattoo on his left wrist – before she closed her eyes, bracing herself._

 _She would never get used to the pain._

 _Then his hands clamped around her upper arms and it began._

 _Bonnie bit hard on her lower lip, enough to bleed, muffling her screams as the pain wracked her body._

 _"The question isn't if we should be afraid," one of the younger two said, and laid hands on her, too. Bonnie moaned piteously._

 _"It is why you are not," the last whispered and now all three hands were on Bonnie._

 _She could bare it no longer – she opened her mouth and screamed, the agony of all three ripping through her like knives cutting and slicing through her soul._

 _She could hear Kol Mikaelson yelling, but what she had no idea. It took her a few long painful moments, before she realized something strange was happening._

 _The pain was not abating. The ghosts were not crossing over._

 _"W…why… aren't … you…?" she stammered through shattering teeth._

 _"Haven't you realized it yet?" Kol shouted. "They are not ghosts, Bonnie! They're Travellers!"_

 _Bonnie's eyes flew open to stare at the three people holding her down. At the matching tattoos she saw now were on all their wrists – an inked sketch of a pair of sandaled feet._

 _Then she screamed even louder when she saw the first one draw out a knife._

 _And it all went black._

* * *

Ten minutes into her trek, Bonnie kicked off her heels and trudged on bare foot.

By her estimation, it had been mile from the cathedral to the highway. It was built on a low hill so every-time Bonnie looked back, as she stepped off the stone steps, and hiked across the large sprawling green – using the Sun to plot her course due East – she could always see it looming behind her.

When she reached the highway, Bonnie had the delightful experience of trekking in high heels and fancy dress under the high Portland noon, miles of road and surrounding savannah stretching before her as far as the eye could see. She would have gladly hitch-hiked but not one vehicle passed her. Her phone was useless. There was no one to call, and even if she did, she had no idea where she was. So a taxi was out, too.

Once again, she tested for her magic, and once again, she felt it muted. She had hoped that the boundaries of whatever suppression spell the Gemini had cast stopped at the perimeter of their estate, but apparently, she was wrong. Or perhaps, their estate extended further than just the land around the cathedral. Whichever the reason might be, she was screwed. She couldn't even do a damn cooling spell. Her face was damp with moisture. Her black dress was a heavy sheath on her body. For the first time since her cousin's recent appearance in her life, Bonnie felt grateful to Lucy for one thing – doing up her hair.

Then she remembered she was in this sorry situation in the first place because of same cousin, and she cursed Lucy to the high heavens.

An hour later, Bonnie was regretting her outburst, and her decision to leave. Lucy had been right, of course. There was nothing Bonnie could do to help Damon by leaving. She had had a better chance of even forcing a confrontation with the Gemini in their grounds after the _Intampina_. Now she had violated heaven knows how much more of their creepy protocols, to say nothing of the face she'd lose if she turned back.

So she trudged on, miserably.

All this had started because of Lucy. Or more exactly, because she, Bonnie, had seen Damon drunk over that picture of Elena. Elena and Stefan, technically, but only because that was the only picture of Elena Damon had had left.

Bonnie still remembered the day he had taken out all his memorabilia of Elena, and his relationship with her – from pictures to clothes to books – and thrown them into a bonfire. Not for Bonnie's sake. Bonnie laughed thinking that now. But because he had thought Elena was dead. That he had murdered her after his stint in the Phoenix Hell.

Something he had kept from Bonnie for months. They had grown closer during the time he had believed her best friend was dead.

Bonnie felt her heart flutter with doubt, but she shied away from the thought and glanced at her watch instead. Her heart fluttered again, this time with exhaustion. She had been trekking for an hour and a half now, and she still had no magic. Still had no luck hitch-hiking. She was about to throw in her towel and start walking back – pride be damned – when she heard a beautiful, glorious sound.

An engine approaching.

She turned around and stuck out her thumb.

* * *

"Need a ride?"

There were three in the car. A curly redhead about Bonnie's own age, eyed her with unabashed interest from the backseat. In the front sat a couple of middle-aged men. They seemed friendly enough.

"Thanks. My car ran out of gas," she said gratefully.

"We can loan you a gallon," offered the driver.

"No, thanks," Bonnie said, thinking fast. "I just need to get off at a gas station." From there she could get her bearings, and call a ride. This group looked friendly enough, but she wasn't about to tell absolute strangers that she had no idea where she was.

The man shrugged, and the redhead reached over to open the door for Bonnie.

She was wearing a loose, blousy top and her hem fell back easily.

On her wrist, was a small tattoo – a pair of sandaled feet.

Bonnie, who was already reaching for the open door, stilled.

"What are you waiting for?" asked the man from the front.

All three pairs of eyes were staring at her. And now she could see that the friendliness was a veneer to something more sinister.

Desperately, she tested for her magic, but it was still gone.

She dropped her shoes and ran.

She heard a muffled oath from behind her, and then a door slamming shut. They were after her. She had barely made it a few feet into the surrounding savannah before she felt heavy breathing on her back. She reached into the slit of her dress, and yanked out the knife that she always kept in her garter. When a hand brushed against her gown, she twirled round, her arm stretched out wide and struck, burying the knife deep into the chest of the man.

Blood poured over her wrist when she yanked out the knife, but she barely noticed, stepping over his falling body to stoop and throw her knife – and it caught the redhead behind him square in her arm. She fell down, clutching her wound.

A gunshot rang out into the air.

Bonnie froze.

The driver had remained near the car, standing half out of the vehicle, and he was now staring at her with cold eyes, a revolver in his hand pointing straight at her.

"Just give me one good reason," he said, his voice like ice.

Slowly, defeatedly, Bonnie dropped her knife and raised up her hands.

* * *

They didn't let her get her shoes.

They matched her at gunpoint into the front seat, threw her purse into the grass – Bonnie legit screamed at that – and then pushed a tonic under her nose.

"Drink."

The nozzle of the gun in her face, Bonnie had no choice but to at least taste. She spat out at once.

She had recognized the flavour – witchbane, with other herbs to suppress her magic, for hours, if not a whole day.

"I'm not drinking that poison. You're going to have to shoot me first," Bonnie swore.

The driver clicked the gun.

"But if you _were_ going to shoot me, you would have done so already," she continued shrewdly.

"Take it," the redhead hissed, still clutching the makeshift bandage around her arm, "or we will brain you unconscious, and all bets are off with whatever we do with your body." Her hiss morphed into a very pointed leer, taking Bonnie in from the top of her now-mussed chignon to the skin showing through Bonnie's side slit. She had been the one to frisk Bonnie for any more weapons, her hands lingering longer than necessary on Bonnie's skin, making Bonnie's flesh crawl.

Bonnie took it.

They started moving then. This time, Bonnie was squeezed in the front between the driver and the redhead, the gear shift digging into her left side, while the gun in the redhead's hand dug into her right side. They had patched up their fallen companion as best they could, then stuffed him into the backseat. Bonnie guessed they were hoping to still save him with magic once they crossed the border.

She guessed right. They passed a tall, incongruous looking sycamore tree – a weird sight after the miles of savannah they had passed – and pulled over.

"If she runs, Mia, shoot out her kneecap, then brain her," the driver threatened.

Then they dragged their companion unto the side of the road and started chanting. After a while, the man's colour came back and he sat up. He still looked pale, and unconscious but it was clear the danger was past.

Bonnie battled between relief and disappointment and – despite everything – settled on relief. Apart from not wanting anyone's life on her hands, it would probably serve her better if they didn't hold their partner's death against her.

"What are Travellers doing on Gemini land anyway?" Bonnie pressed on. "Don't tell me you were invited to the _Dioskouri_?"

"Shut up," the redhead – Mia said, almost absent-mindedly.

Bonnie didn't. "Wait a minute. Weren't you all supposed to have been killed by their coven leader?"

That prompted a weird exchange of glances from all three, then Mia smiled at Bonnie mockingly. "That's what the Gemini think, too."

Bonnie tried to return the smile. "I'm not an ally of the Gemini, you know. I'm not going to warn them you crashed at their party. You don't have to hold me captive."

Mia snorted, and stared out the window.

Bonnie clamped down on the sliver of alarm that little snort made her feel. Like she had told them earlier, if they wanted her dead, they'd have killed her on sight. She had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and made the mistake of visibly recognizing them. They probably just wanted her out of the way until they were finished up whatever nefarious plan they had to sabotage the Gemini, and then they'd let her go.

Bonnie just needed to wait this out.

* * *

Bonnie had no intention of waiting this out.

It was late evening when they reached their destination – a motel almost ten miles past the last gas station where Mia had escorted Bonnie to a bathroom with a gun pressed into her waist, and they stopped the car. They dragged Bonnie out – she refused to make it any easier for them. She watched as they opened the trunk of the car, and took out a small black box, strapped in several places with metal locks from the boot. Even without magic, Bonnie knew a magical device when she saw one.

The guy at the back – the one she had stabbed – had recovered enough to walk out of the car unaided. He gave Bonnie a look of pure hatred as he passed her. The other two half-led, half-carried her between them into a motel room.

There they shoved Bonnie into a chair, and tied her limbs to the legs and arms.

Mia leered down at her when they were done. "Sorry about the accommodations. Or would you prefer to share a bed with me?"

"I'd rather sleep upside down, hanging from the ceiling," Bonnie snapped back.

Anger flashed through the other woman's eyes and she grabbed Bonnie's chin, yanking her forward. "Maybe I won't give you a choice then."

Bonnie gave her a level look. "I will tear out your throat with my teeth if you try to touch me."

"You can try…"

"Enough, Mia," the driver said. Bonnie had picked up that he was the leader of the trio and now, the way Mia cowered at his rebuke confirmed it. "No funny business here. The full moon's in a few hours and if our contact makes it in time with Bennett blood, we'll be getting Markos back. Get your head in the game."

The redhead pouted, then flounced away to the other side of the room, safely away from Bonnie.

She didn't even have time to be relieved, still reeling at what he had said. His attention had turned to Bonnie. "As for you, we don't have any quarrel with you. The herbs you took should keep you powerless until we're done. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay quiet and out of our way. Otherwise you'll get the rope. And if you give us a hard time… Believe me when I say that I don't like spilling witch blood. But I will spill yours if it comes to it."

The man Bonnie stabbed spoke up then, from where he sat in the only other chair in the room. "Hey! She didn't mind spilling mine, Hans."

"Self-defence, Ivan," the leader – Hans said. When his partner tried to protest, he overruled it. "Our quarrel is with the Gemini and no one else will get dragged into it. Now call our contact, Mia, and let's know where to pick up the Bennett blood."

Bonnie shrank into her chair, her mind racing. Whose Bennett blood? Lucy's? Definitely not hers. She hadn't even been on the guest list until a few days's ago. Surely, whatever nefarious activity Bonnie had been unfortunate enough to stumble into, was hatched without her being part of it.

And who was this contact that they kept referring to? One of the Gemini? One of the guests?

Someone's phone rang. Mia and Ivan moved towards Hans as he pulled out his mobile from his pocket.

Bonnie's ears strained to grasp the gist of the conversation. It took a while before she could make sense of what was being said.

"Not coming! But the full moon is tonight!"

Her heart raced with alarm. Hans, who had until now been the most rational person in the group, sounded thunderous with rage. Even his companions looked frightened.

"Two of them? And you couldn't get blood from _either_? ... Left the Ceremony… Is that even possible? … Wait a minute, say that again? … Black dress, hair up, hot as sin…"

Bonnie felt her blood run cold as three pairs of eyes turned triumphant gazes towards her.

"It looks like we're in business after all… Yes, you'll get your turn… Start moving if you want to use the power of the Full Moon."

The anger in the driver's face had vanished, as he snapped his call shut.

"Well, hello… _Bonnie Bennett_."

* * *

She struggled as much as she could but with her hands and feet tied, there was nothing she could do to prevent them from drawing blood from her. At least, Hans did it himself, not leaving it to the lecherous Mia or the vindictive Ivan who might have stabbed her in the heart to draw blood.

He patted her knee almost paternally after he bottled the vial where her blood was collected. "This should be enough for a return trip. We'll need more for our contact, of course. But it'll all be over tomorrow."

"She's a descendant of Questiya who betrayed us. We should kill her on principle," Ivan spat out.

Surprisingly, Mia drew close to Bonnie protectively. "She helped our people in the past – while she was an Anchor."

"Not by choice," Ivan retorted.

"It doesn't matter," Mia said. "We have no quarrel with her."

Hans turned stern eyes on both of them. "Her fate is Markos's to decide." His eyes on Bonnie were grave. "I am afraid you will be our guest for a while longer, Ms. Bennett."

He went into the black box from the trunk. They had dumped it on one of the beds when they entered the motel. He whispered magic over it, his hands waver, and the locks snapped open.

Inside were two devices that made Bonnie's heart quail.

Ascendants.

"It is time," Hans intoned.

"What about our contact?" Mia asked, sounding surprised.

"We cannot wait. Ivan will stay behind and guard the Bennett witch" – he overruled their immediate protests with his raised hand –"he is too weak for the magic we will need for this journey. We have no idea what state Markos will be when we find him. He might not have his powers. And between the two of you, I trust Ivan more to slit her throat if she so much as makes a wrong move." He said this with his gaze stern and steely on Bonnie.

Bonnie swallowed hard. "I won't."

"I hope not. For your sake, Ms. Bennett. I meant what I said – I won't shed blood unnecessarily. But I will do so if it is expedient. Now, come, Mia. Night is falling. We need to find a magical fulcrum."

He stepped out first. Mia threw one last warning look over her shoulder at her partner. "You heard Hans. Don't touch her." She gave Bonnie an almost worried glance before she followed Hans out.

The door slamming shut behind her sounded ominous to Bonnie's ears.

Her eyes turned to Ivan, just as his turned to hers.

Bonnie swallowed hard.

Ivan's gaze was filled with hate.

"Your leader told you not to touch me," Bonnie said, trying to keep her voice confident, not shaking with fear.

"He is not my leader. Markos is," the man spat. "And Markos will slit your throat first chance he gets, I promise you."

"Well, you'll have to wait for Markos to do it himself because woe betide you if Markos has a use for me. Like your friends said, I've been useful to the Travellers in the past."

For how could Bonnie forget those horrible twenty-four hours, she had been captured and held hostage by them. When they had committed mass suicide, forcing her body to pass out from the exhaustion of passing through so many witches, and leaving her vulnerable for the evil Markos to arise.

His crossing over had been the catalyst that eventually brought down the Other Side, and pushed Bonnie into the 1994 Prison World. Bonnie, Damon – and, as they would find out later, Kol Mikaelson.

She had never found out what Markos and the rest of the Travellers had wanted. After he had returned, he had led his barbaric coven out of Mystic Falls and had gone underground for many months. They re-surfaced many years later in Portland, to fight against the Gemini coven, their arch-nemesis, in a feud that dated back millennia. A feud that had apparently been caused by Bonnie's own ancestor, Questiya, but one that had never been fully explained to Bonnie herself.

The only thing she knew of the outcome of that battle was what Nora Hildegarde had told her in sketches – it had caused a reconciliation between the Gemini and the heretics, who had once been part of the coven, and still regarded the Travellers as a common enemy; and it had ended in the defeat and eradication of all the Travellers, from Markos to the lowliest member.

Or so Nora had believed.

Apparently, she and the Gemini were wrong.

Bonnie racked her brain desperately for a way of passing a message across to them.

But her phone was lying on the grass somewhere off the highway. The _Intampina_ must have been long over. Perhaps someone had noticed she was missing? But Lucy would probably think that Bonnie was still mad at her, and ignoring her calls or messages. She might even assume that Bonnie had returned back to Mystic Falls. As for Damon… Damon was trapped in his own bad situation – Lucy believed the Gemini would release him after the ritual, but maybe Lucy was wrong. He could still be waiting in some godforsaken torture chamber, helpless, defenceless, relying on his fiancée to save his life, and waiting in vain. Bonnie felt tears rush into her eyes at the thought, and reigned herself in. Worrying about Damon now won't help her. She had to hope that he was fine. And if he was, he likely won't be worried about her whereabouts after what happened last night: he'd just think she was pulling the same stunt.

As for Bonnie's other friends: Well, she hadn't spoken to Caroline since they left Abby's house. She and Matt weren't in touch frequently enough for him to even notice her absence. She had asked for time off work so no one would be keeping tabs on her.

The only people, she thought despairingly, that might even come close to noticing her absence were Jeremy Gilbert and maybe, possibly, Mr. Jerk Warlock.

Clearly, if she was going to get out of this situation in time to warn the others, she'd have to rely on herself.

"That was when you were an Anchor," Ivan said suddenly. Bonnie had almost lost track of their conversation, immersed as she was in her own brooding thoughts. Her eyes snapped up in alarm as she noticed the knife he was wielding.

"Don't you dare…" Bonnie gasped.

"Now the only thing we need from you is more blood… and we can get that from draining you dry." He smiled suddenly, evilly. "What was it you said to Mia about hanging upside down?"

He lashed at her. Bonnie held her breath, waiting until the last possible second to tip back as hard as she could – and she did it. Her chair tipped over, the front legs swinging up, and smashing into his knees.

He yelled, falling down, while she lay, dazed from the impact of her head rocking off the back of the chair when it hit the floor. For a long moment, she stared up at the dingy ceiling of the motel room and all she saw was stars. Then she took a deep breath and tried to swing the chair around. She barely managed to get it to move.

There was the rustling sound of someone rising to his feet.

"You little b-"

She scooted sharply, and the leg of the chair made some sort of impact on his body or probably just tripped him, because she heard the thud of him falling down, and another curse.

Then the crack as the back of the chair finally snapped.

 _Oh thank God!_ The broken chair meant her bonds were loose, and she tried to work out her hands and feet quickly. She shot a quick prayer of thanks to Hans, for leaving her with Ivan, who was clearly the dimmest of the lot. Mia, had been lecherous, but she would have had the sense to use magic by now. As it was, Ivan was so confident that Bonnie was powerless, that he hadn't yet resorted to that.

He grabbed her arm just as she got her feet loose, and she kicked hard at him, sending him crashing down on _her._ His other arm took a swing at her, and Bonnie screamed as her skin tore – that hand had held the knife.

The pain dazed her. Enough that she couldn't fight when he grabbed her by the hair that now hung loose over her shoulders, ignoring her screams of pain as he pulled her to her feet. The ropes that held her to the remains of the chair fell to the ground, but she was in too much pain to do anything about that. Then his free hand clamped hard on her wrists, holding them like a vice. She cried out from the pain of his grip and her renewed loss of freedom.

"I am going to really enjoy hurting you," he hissed into her face.

He drew back his knife hand for the last time.

* * *

*I played fast and loose with the events of season 5 not just to make this story less complicated but because that plot never made a lot of sense to me. So chalk up the discrepancies here to this story being an AU.


	11. Escape

**Chapter Eleven: Escape.**

Through the heavy fall of hair that hung over her eyes, Bonnie stared into the twisted, menacing face of Ivan the Traveller.

"I am going to really enjoy hurting you," he hissed into her face.

He drew back his knife hand again and Bonnie braced herself, hoping to at least dodge the first blow…

Then the knife clattered to the floor, and her hands were free as he raised up both his hands to clamp over his head as he let out a bloodcurdling scream. His eyes boggled with pain, and she realized after a half-moment of dumb shock that he was being inflicted by a powerful aneurysm spell.

He tipped towards her, and she scrambled back just in time as he crashed onto the ground, now silent but still twitching, inches from her bare feet.

Bonnie scrambled back some more, and right into strong, warm arms behind her.

"You're OK," said a familiar voice behind her. "I got you."

* * *

The small room was filled with people. Bonnie watched, slightly dazed as what she estimated as half a dozen people milled through the room, Gemini witches apparently, who were casting spells that left a mist of smoke and lights on the ceiling. A pair bound Ivan with magical cords then levitated him, leading him out of the room. They passed a small group huddled over the empty black box on the bed.

"Are you OK?"

With surprise, she realised she was still half-sitting on the floor, folded in the arms of Jerk Warlock. He brushed the hair from her face and peered hard at her, his eyes roaming from her messy face to her dishevelled appearance. What was it about this man that he always turned up when she was at her absolute worst?

She tried to move out of his grip and scrutiny, but he held firm. "Easy," he said, worriedly. "You're bleeding."

"I'm good. Worry about the other two Travellers that left earlier. You have to go after them right now."

He ignored that, and stood with her still locked in his arms and half-carried, half-walked her to the other chair and pushed her into it. He knelt before her and – to her chagrin – ran his hands from her knee to her thigh. She was about to give him a good hard kick for that, when his fingers found the cut Ivan's knife had left, and she gasped with pain.

"It's just a scratch," she said reassuringly at his suddenly irate face. "I'm fine. Listen…"

"The hell you are," he muttered, his fingers gingerly tapping around her wound, smearing her blood.

Even with her magic suppressed, she could still feel the tingle of power leaving his body into hers and she gasped at the thrill of it. Before her eyes, the torn skin knitted back together, leaving only a thin line.

"That wasn't necessary," Bonnie said, jerking her leg from his grip. "There are-"

"More effective ways, I know. But we're fresh out of vamp blood," he muttered, so far off the course of what she wanted to say that she just gaped at him. "We can't all get a vampire to put a ring on it, can we? Sorry about the scar."

"That is not even what I meant…" Bonnie exhaled impatiently. "I'm trying to tell you that you need to go after other travellers. They took the Ascendant. They're going to get Markos out. You have to stop them."

He laughed incredulously. "Don't I get to catch a breath from rescuing you?"

"Why you-"

But her retort was cut short by the arrival of a tall young witch with big bouncy curls. She gave Bonnie a curious look, before she bent to JW. "As we expected," she said cryptically.

JW's eyebrows rose at that, and so did the man himself. He and the blonde walked a little way off and had a hushed conversation that Bonnie was apparently not supposed to hear. But the way their eyes kept sidling in Bonnie's direction though made her wonder if she was part of that discussion.

After a long moment, JW nodded a dismissal and the witch withdrew, but not after throwing Bonnie one last curious look. There was something extremely familiar about her, but Bonnie's head was too befuddled to figure out what it was. Her eyes followed the witch to where she re-joined the crew in front of the box. The girl stopped right in the middle of Bonnie's line of sight, blocking the box and the other warlocks from her view.

Bonnie tried to stand up to see what they were about, only for JW to be in her face again. He tsked as he pushed her back in the chair, ignoring her protests as he wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, his long fingers gentle as they tucked her hair under the collar.

She hadn't even realized how cold she was. But now, enveloped by his familiar scent of incense and mint, a belated tremor ran through her body, and she clutched the jacket firmly around herself. Now that the adrenaline that had been coursing through her was receding, she felt dizzy, too. She hadn't eaten anything in over twenty-four hours.

But she'd take care of herself later.

"Thanks," she said grudgingly. "But look… you're Gemini, right?" She went on before he answered. "The guys who took me were Travellers. They're going to get Markos from whatever Prison World your leader stashed him in all this while. If we leave now, we might just catch them on their return trip."

He tsked again, giving her an amused glance as he straightened to roll up his sleeves. "We? What are you – Dora on crack? Between you night-time wanderings and your daytime abduction, haven't you had enough adventures to last the past twenty-four hours? Why don't you sit this one out?"

Bonnie was about to bark back a retort, when she got distracted by what he was doing. His upper arms were thick with muscle, dark hair covering veined skin. For a moment, she just stared, her mouth going inexplicably dry. Then she shook out of it, snapping her eyes back to his face in time to see him staring back at her. One eyebrow was raised, his mouth crooked in an arrogant smirk that made her flush more with anger than embarrassment at being caught staring.

Jerk.

"Look here, Jerk," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't give two cents what Wizarding War III is brewing between your two covens. What I don't want is to be your collateral damage. But since someone decided to use Bennett blood as currency for you freaks, here I am!" She raised her arms up in frustration. "So get your mess sorted out already or I'll do it myself."

She half-expected him to laugh off her rant, but to her surprise, his smirk faded under a sudden cloud of contrition that fell over his face. When he spoke, his voice was sober. "The Travellers had no business dragging you into this. They're going to answer for that, I promise you." While Bonnie still looked at him, gaping, he went on. "I'm sorry about that." He dropped to his knees again, touched her healed skin, gently. With a sigh, he fished out a handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the blood that had run from her thigh to her knee, staining the fabric underneath.

His hand seemed to sear a trail of heat on her skin, sending a direct charge from her skin to her throat, cutting off her air. She felt like if she was suffocating, an enormous pressure pressing in on her, making it hard to breathe. He got too close, those long fingers brushing the V of her slit, and she grabbed his hand in sudden panic. His eyes rose to look right into hers; his eyes were too dark, his stare too intense, but she was trapped in his gaze and she couldn't look away.

Bonnie felt like if… for some strange reason… she was about to burst into tears.

"Brace yourself," he whispered.

She opened her mouth to ask him what the hell that meant – when it exploded out of her.

The force of it took out of the lights in the room, the fluorescent tubes bursting out, shards raining out of the ceiling as with exclamations of surprise, the witches hastily threw up shields to protect themselves. A sudden burst of wind rushed through the open door, and shattered the windows on its way out. From far away came the rumble of thunder.

Bonnie gasped, shock and sudden dizziness wracking through her and she fell forward – or would have, if JW hadn't caught her, his arms wrapping around her back as her face landed on his shoulder.

"Easy," he said softly, and for the third time that day, she felt his hand stroking her back. "Easy now."

"M-my magic… how did it…?"

"Recharge so quickly? I might have given it a little tug." He chuckled lowly, and she felt the vibration of it against her cheek. Now that her magic was back, she could sense _his_ fully - old, wild, yet calming all at once. "Forgot for a moment whose magic I was dealing with."

"Bennett magic," Bonnie said, bitterly.

He chuckled again, and she felt his head shaking. "More than that. Yours."

Her brain was thick with fog, and the weight of exhaustion of the long, miserable day seemed to suddenly drop on her shoulders. She couldn't even begin to figure out what he meant.

But Bonnie tried one last time to get what was important across.

"JW, Markos… The Travellers…"

He shushed her. "You really are a glutton for punishment, aren't you?" She felt his hand press on the back of her neck. "Close your eyes."

* * *

Her eyes were half-closing already, but his command made them snap open at once. Which was why she had the unpleasant, dizzying sensation of watching the tacky wallpaper of the motel melt in a whirl of nauseating magic to the smooth, pastel paint of her hotel room.

"S-sorry," she just managed to get out before she threw up over his shoulder.

His sigh was as heavy as a groan but he patted the back of her head soothingly as she heaved. "You didn't close your eyes, did you?"

Bonnie was too weak to even feel embarrassed. When she was finally done, he lifted her up, carrying her in his arms like the limp, lifeless doll she felt like, and then she felt herself being lowered unto something soft and warm.

"Also, your vomit was revolting and liquid. When was the last time you ate? And no, booze calories don't count."

He fussed around her, wiping her face, shoving her legs under the blanket and tucking her in. It would have driven her crazy if she wasn't bone-tired, and therefore vulnerable to the lulling warmth of his aura.

So Bonnie just groaned and turned on her side. "Leave me here to die. Give me a head start before the Travellers come and kill us all."

He snorted. "Very funny."

Now he was moving around the room, using magic to clean the mess, lowering the lights if the sudden dimness of the room was any indication. Bonnie heard his voice rumbling in the distance, like if he was talking to someone in the passageway, or on the phone. But she was passing in and out of unconsciousness and couldn't even be bothered to eavesdrop.

She came to fully when something spicy and hot assailed her nostrils. Her eyes opened to the sight of a bowl of indeterminate soup being waved in front of her.

"So, start with a few s… ah, never mind."

Because Bonnie had sat up at once, grabbed the bowl from his hands and downed the contents in two gulps, heedless of the near-scorching heat, that was just how hungry she was.

She put down the bowl, and looked at him.

"You're welcome?" he said with a smirk. "There's more in the flask when you're ready."

"Why are you still here?" she demanded.

His jaw dropped, a look of such indignation on his face that she almost burst out laughing; for the first time that day, she actually grinned – when the slamming of her room door made both of them turn to the sound. The lights turned on brightly. Bonnie felt her heart slam – her mind immediately going to the thought of Hans or Mia, returning to re-capture her. She raised her hand at once, ready to blast first, and ask questions later.

Then she let out a cry of pure joy, her hand that was stretched out to strike, now reaching beseechingly as Damon vamp-sped to her side, all but crushing her in his grip.

"Damon, oh thank god you're OK," she managed to say before she burst into tears against his shirt.

* * *

Damon's grip on her shoulders was tight enough to hurt, as he held her away from him to peer hard into her face, his own streaked with desperation. "Don't you ever, ever…" He shook her slightly. "I was going out of mind. _Are you OK?_ "

She smiled, her mouth trembling. "I am now."

He nodded, and hugged her fiercely again. But she had barely managed to sink into the blissful relief of his presence, when he left her, moving faster than humanly possibly and she turned around in confusion to stare at the sight of Damon, pining JW to the wall, his upper arm on the warlock's throat.

"What the hell did you Gemini freaks do to her?"

JW choked, and flapped his hands in the general direction of his throat.

"Damon!" Bonnie yelled, more confused than anything. The warlock was powerful enough to take down Damon with an aneurysm. She didn't understand why he was acting like a vulnerable mundane.

"What the hell did you do to my fiancée?" Damon's voice was a low growl, as he pressed his full weight on his arm. JW's face was turning slightly green.

A blast of magic pushed the two men apart. Bonnie meant it to be a gentle push, enough to give JW some breathing room, but between her exhaustion and her restored magic still being wonky, she sent both men crashing – Damon hard against the opposite wall, and JW into her room-service tray.

"Oh no!" Bonnie wailed in horror as the flask of soup crashed into the floor, falling open and spilling out its contents.

* * *

"My sentiments exactly," JW said mournfully from where he sat on the floor in the middle of soup and up-ended tray. "Now, if you lovebirds will excuse me, I need to go rescue my shirt." He turned a sardonic glance at Damon who was rising. "For chivalry's sake, I'll be sending _you_ the dry-cleaning bill. Be careful with this one. She's high-maintenance."

With a wink at Bonnie and a wave of rippling magic, he was gone, vanishing literal seconds before Damon rushed at him.

Damon stood, blinking down in surprise, then he raised his head to stare at Bonnie. "What the hell, Bonnie?"

"You shouldn't have attacked him. He's the one that saved me."

"He saved you? Who the hell _is_ he? What the hell happened to you? Why the hell did you attack _me_?" By the last one, his eyes looked incredibly hurt and lost.

Bonnie felt her throat close with emotion. "Damon, please. I…" She couldn't say anything more, feeling the pressure of tears threatening to fall.

To her immense relief, he was at her side again, his arms around her as he tucked her under his chin, his lips pressing into the top of her head was everything that she needed. "Shhh, I'm here. You're safe now. Everything's going to be just fine." He sighed. "BonBon, I was going crazy. You can't believe the hellish day I've had. Stuck for hours in some witchy prison with the world's most boring Original…"

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Bonnie asked, panicked, her earlier worries returning.

Damon shrugged. "Unless you count the cabin fever. After Finn and I hugged it out a couple of times, we agreed to disagree. Then a few hours they let me out and I find out you're gone. Lucy thought you had flown the coop, gone to Virginia but I couldn't imagine you leaving while I was still locked away."

"I won't have, Damon," Bonnie insisted, twisting to look him in the face. "You know that, right?"

He tipped his head and kissed her, long and deep. She was bone-tired and in no position to appreciate it fully, but it sent a wash of immense relief through her. She clung to him when they broke apart, listening to his voice through his thin black shirt.

"I went over to the Mikaelsons, wondering if they had anything to do with it. I couldn't find them, but I found that that NOLA witch friend of Lucy in a hurry somewhere. Vincent Whathisname. We hugged it out as well."

"Damon!" Bonnie gasped.

He shrugged. "I was worried about you. Didn't care whose necks I had to snap. I figured that if he didn't know what was going on, then maybe a bunch of Gemini witches would come and break us up and I could hug it out with them… But no one showed up. It was Lucy that turned up to do that Blasting Apart spell that you Bennett chicks are so fond of. We teamed up for a bit, asking around. Ran into Baby Gilbert, teamed up with _him_." Damon grunted. "Then Lucy ditched us, to follow up some insider lead she didn't want us part of. I was going to follow her anyway, but I got a call from hotel, telling me that an order was placed from this room. Now, what the hell happened?"

Bonnie was so tired that she just wanted to sink into him, and lose consciousness but she clung desperately to awareness to pass on the message. "The Travellers took me."

" _What?_ "

"I'm OK now, that's what matters. But they want to bring back Markos… start a war with the Gemini. I tried to warn JW and he's an ass… Should have tried harder… got the attention of the other witches in the room…" Unknown to her, her voice was slurring as the darkness creeped into the corners of her eyes.

"Who the hell is JW?"

"Hans wanted to let me go… found out I was a Bennett… changed his mind… were going to drain … every last drop of blood from me…."

Even as she faded, she felt the strength of Damon's arms tightening around her. "The hell they are."

She sighed heavily into his arms as the darkness completely claimed her. The last thing she heard were his words, heavy with promise. "I won't let anything happen to you, BonBon. I promise."

 _Keep me safe, my love. Keep me safe._

* * *

Bonnie woke up, still curled up in Damon's arms. The rays of light filtering through the curtains told her that it was early morning. For a long moment, she stayed there, only shifting so that she could get a better view of his dear face. Despite everything else going on, he had pulled through for her. He never let her down.

She reluctantly untangled herself from him and hobbled to the bathroom. A shower was just what she needed, washing away the grit and grime of the previous day's ordeal. It occurred to her, suddenly, that this was the second time in so many days of her stay in Portland that she had needed a cleansing shower. And considering that bad luck ran in threes.

The shower was warm but she was shivering when she stepped out of it in the hotel bathrobe.

Damon was up, out of the bed. She was glancing around the room for the sight of him, when the door of the room opened and he dragged in a room service tray.

"Figured you'd be hungry," he said and grinned broadly over her squeal of delight as she ran to the table.

She grabbed a pastry with one hand and a carrot stick with another, and collapsed into a chair, munching.

"How did you get them to come so quickly? Did you order before I woke up?"

He snorted. "Why order when you can compel a passing waiter to hand over his service tray?" He picked up the order card on the tray. "Thank you, Room_" He rattled off a number that was certainly _not_ their own room.

The food in Bonnie's mouth suddenly seemed to lose some of its savour. He must have caught the look on her face because he laughed. "Turn off your saving people mode for one moment, OK? I'm not ready to watch you feel bad for some guy that was probably too hung over from partying all night to go down for breakfast."

"I don't feel bad," she lied, chewing defiantly.

He snorted again and pulled out his phone. "And I'm a vegetarian. Sent Lucy a message last night that you were back. She asked me to call her the moment you woke up."

Bonnie grimaced.

Damon shrugged helplessly. "I know, I know. But she's the best person to tell us what the heck is going on so… Plus we still need to finagle a rain check with the Gemini after we stood them up for their Impalation Ceremony."

" _Intampina_ ," Bonnie corrected, her heart sinking. She reached for the coffee jug and poured herself a cup with careful hands. "Rain check, huh?"

His bright eyes glanced at her sharply. "Not again, BonBon."

It was her turn to shrug. "Just wanting to be on the same page, that's all."

She felt his gaze, sharp and wary on her but she ignored it, taking a sip of necessary coffee that only tasted like dishwater. Partly because of her mood but also because Damon hadn't been lucky enough to filch a tray with the kind of coffee she liked. If he even knew the kind of coffee she liked, she thought darkly. Five years now and it was still one of their running jokes.

Too bad she wasn't exactly in a humorous mood now.

Rationally, she understood that she and Damon won't even be in Portland if not for Lucy's proposal and the chance to break Elena's Curse. The events of the past forty-eight hours were an indirect consequence of that. Rationally, she knew it made sense for it never to be far from his mind.

So why the heck was Bonnie so surprised, so – if she were honest – _hurt_ that he brought it up? That despite everything that happened to her the other day, the thought of Elena coming back had never quite left Damon's mind?

Just because it had left hers, _Bonnie's_?

She gulped the rest of the bitter coffee, and was reaching for the jug when she was stopped by his hand covering her own.

She looked up into his dear, dear, worried face.

"Bonnie, you know that I…"

The door to the room burst open. All thoughts of Elena and the Sleeping Curse whooshed out of Bonnie's head as she stared in shock at the sight of the last person she imagined seeing.

Mary Louise the Heretic.

* * *

The blonde's face was a mask of determination as she marched to Bonnie. Damon vamp-sped between the two women, his stance aggressive but Mary Louise merely threw up her arms.

"I come in peace, you nitwit, to save your intended's wretched life." She stretched out her hands to Damon and Bonnie.

Bonnie stood up at once, shying out of reach of those hands, Damon moving with her. Both knew from experience how effortlessly the heretics wielded portation spells.

"Get back!" Bonnie yelled, her own magic rushing into her hands, now steady and ready.

Mary Louise rolled her eyes. "I don't have all day, and you would normally be the last person I would cross the Gemini to save. However, my wife seems to care about you for some unfathomable reason and so here we are. Do not make me come and get you."

"The hell you are-"

"She's right, Bonnie," Lucy said.

Damon and Bonnie looked up, shocked at Lucy Bennett standing by the doorway.

"We got a heads' start but we need to move quickly. Go with Mary Louise. I'll figure out what the hell is happening and join you." She made to leave, then stopped, her eyes narrowing at Bonnie's bathrobe. She snapped her fingers at her cousin and Bonnie felt an unpleasant thrill of magic as the bathrobe morphed into a white sundress.

"Lucy, what the-"

"BonBon and I aren't going anywhere until you tell us what the hell is going on."

Lucy looked over her shoulder hurriedly. "There's no time. Bonnie…"

"I'm not going anywhere with _her_ -"

Mary Louise vamp-sped inches before Damon and Bonnie, her already reaching hands clamping around both of them. Bonnie blinked, and the hotel room vanished. She blinked again, and they were in the hotel parking lot, standing next to a convertible that already had a key in its ignition.

* * *

"One of you can operate this vehicle, right?" Mary Louise snapped. She was moving towards the passenger seat, where she got in and slammed the door. "We need to head to the airport. Nora will be there, arranging safe passage for you to Virginia."

Damon and Bonnie stared at each other, then glared at her as one, mutinously.

Mary Louise let out a growl of frustration. "I swear to all that is Holy, if I get locked up in a Prison World for this, I will return and wreck such vengeance on you and yours for generations unending."

"Been there, done that," Damon snapped, "but we're not going anywhere until you tell us what the hell is going on."

"We don't have time…"

" _Tell me_!" Bonnie snarled.

Mary Louise closed her eyes, drew a deep angry breath. Then she opened her eyes, flashing a furious glare at both of them. "Fine," she said through gritted teeth. "I am unaware of all the details – Nora, not I, has been permitted into Malachai's inner circle." She sniffed. "But apparently, darling Bonnie here's been exposed as a spy for the Travellers."

" _What?_ " Bonnie cried.

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard!" Damon shouted.

"Odd as it may seem, we are in agreement. Your sanctimonious little girlfriend won't do anything half so exciting. But what do the Gemini know about Perfect little Bonnie's straight-laced, judgmental, depressingly boring…"

"Get to the point, Mary Louise!" Bonnie snapped.

"The point is that all the Gemini know about little Miss Bennett here is that she's affianced to a vampire, bosom friends with two, and she's kept close acquaintance with several vampires for a decade now. Naturally, they assume the worst of any such witch. If you were merely an ordinary witch, they'd take you alive, and find out what you know. They still prefer to but then again - you're a Bennett. A warship. A battle cruiser. A nuclear warhead. Their orders are to 'Shoot On Sight'."

Bonnie staggered back, grabbed Damon's hand fiercely.

"Damon, of course, is guilty by association."

Bonnie's heart slammed in her chest at that.

Mary Louise smiled sweetly, clearly getting off the other witch's fear. "So… which of you two will act as chauffeur?"

* * *

 _ **A/N:** You think things are moving fast now? Wait till you see what comes next. :D _


	12. Fugitives

**Chapter Twelve: Fugitives.**

The car flew from the hotel to the airport like a bat out of hell, Bonnie at the wheel. Damon sat at the back, his phone to his ear as he scowled at the back of Mary Louise's head from where she rode shotgun. Every once in a while, a police siren would blare in their rear, and the heretic would send a _Confundus_ spell at the driver, making it target another car. Her spell had only missed once, but when the car was pulled over, Damon dealt with the problem.

They were still an hour away from the airport.

Lucy was on the end of a phone conversation, her voice speaking through the car's Bluetooth speakers.

"How many members of the Founders' Council can be assembled by the time you arrive in Virginia?"

"Alaric and Meredith Fell-Saltzman. Matt Donovan…"

"Donovan?"

"Maxwell on his mother's side. Tyler's all the way in Canada, I don't know if he can…"

"The Lockwoods have been exposed as werewolves. They don't count anymore. They have to be strictly human, strictly Founding family. Otherwise the Gemini won't-"

"Add Sarah Salvatore to the list," Damon said, getting off his own call. "She's already at the airport. She'll be in Mystic Falls in a few hours."

He and Bonnie caught eyes through the rear-view mirror. "How did you manage that?" she asked, surprised.

"She owes me a favour. Warned her not to let Stefan know she was coming. You know how he gets with her."

Stefan would hate to see Sarah dragged into anything supernatural, but they'd have to cross that bridge when they got there.

"Four members," Lucy said. "That should be enough. Remember you must formally ask for Sanctuary the moment you enter Mystic Falls."

Damon snorted. "Bonnie doesn't need to ask…"

"Shut up and listen!" Lucy snapped. "She needs to ask for Sanctuary from at least a quorum from the Founders's Council and she needs to be given Sanctuary formally. The Gemini are certainly already sending witches ahead to wait for Bonnie in Virginia. The only thing that can stop them from snatching her the moment she steps foot off that plane is if the Council is waiting for her, and granting her Sanctuary in their town."

"What about Damon?" Bonnie asked, gnawing her lip with worry.

"I guess he can ask for Sanctuary, too," Lucy answered dismissively. "The same rules probably apply."

Damon snorted. "So glad to know you care."

"Are you sure I should be doing this, Lucy?" Bonnie asked, not for the first time. "The Travellers kidnapped me, took my blood. _Gemini witches_ rescued me. This one guy, JW…"

"JW who?"

"Er…" Bonnie felt her face heat up with embarrassment as Damon's eyes narrowed and Mary Louise looked curiously at her. "I never quite got his name…"

"Then he's useless. Look, there's obviously more to this than meets the eye. _I_ know you're innocent, Bonnie, obviously. But there are factions at war here, even with the coven itself, that I can't begin to explain. Just make sure you get to Virginia as soon as possible. Mary Louise, any word from Nora?"

"She'll ground the plane for as long as she has to," Mary Louise said grimly. "We just need to get there as soon as possible."

"And then what?" Bonnie cried. "How long is this going to last, Lucy? I can't be stuck in Virginia for the rest of my life!"

"And what about that favour of yours, eh?" Damon added. "When are we ever going to collect on that? Going to be pretty hard for the Gemini leader to lift the Sleeping Curse if they think Bonnie's a fugitive."

Bonnie's hands clenched so fiercely around the wheel that her knuckles whitened; she ignored Mary Louise's sharp stare, keeping her eyes fixed on the road in front of her.

"Know what else is going to be pretty hard, Damon? For the Gemini to break the Curse if Bonnie's dead," Lucy snarled. "Or wait… My mistake… It's going to be pretty effing easy for Elena to wake up if Bonnie's dead, right? Hear that, Bon? Maybe you should turn the car around. Save your fiancé the time and effort."

"Why, you bit-" Damon growled but the line cut.

Bonnie swerved the car sharply into a miniscule opening in the next lane, causing a cacophony of horns and lights in her wake, and sending her passengers hard against the side of the car.

"Watch it!" Mary Louise hissed.

Bonnie ignored her. She also ignored Damon, even though she could feel his eyes trying to lock with hers in the mirror, and kept her own gaze steady on the road, trying hard to see past the haze that had just fallen over her eyes.

Damon gave up on getting her to look at him, turned to Mary Louise. "Get Lucy back so I can give her a piece of my mind!" he ordered.

"I need to check in with Nora," she replied, her voice bored but her eyes malicious. "Besides, her words were not untrue, were they?"

"Mind your tongue, or I'll make you choke on it," Damon growled.

Mary Louise smiled. "It would be amusing to watch you attempt it, vampire."

There was a long, poisonous silence. Ferocious thoughts churned inside Bonnie. Her mouth was full with bile and if she spoke now, she'd probably spit poison. So she channelled her emotions in her driving, making increasingly reckless manoeuvres as they started barrelling up the road winding around a cliff. D

Damon had given up on catching Bonnie's eye, and was now staring at Mary Louise's head with a malicious light in his eyes. The heretic was on the phone, probably with Nora, but Bonnie could barely make out her words.

When Mary Louise ended the call, she turned to Bonnie. "Move this vehicle faster."

"Any faster and she'll be dead," Damon retorted. "And speaking of dead… forgive my manners, but weren't _you_ supposed to be in that peaceful state?"

Despite herself, Bonnie's ears perked at that, and she gave Mary Louise a quick glance from the corner of her eye, wandering if the heretic would deign to answer.

For a moment, it looked like Mary Louise won't, then she shrugged. "I was not killed, but condemned to the Prison World for foolishly taking Julian's side, and fighting for the Travellers. While I served my penance, my beloved did not rest on her oars. She had been wise enough to fight for Malachai against the Travellers, and she has become his trusted friend. She eventually persuaded him to release me, promising my loyalty." She gave Bonnie and Damon irritated looks in turn. "I am flabbergasted that she has chosen to risk everything now, but I have to protect her in anyway I can. I assure you that is the only reason why I am doing this."

"Noted. So, let me see if I get this right… you're out on parole for good behaviour?" Damon queried.

"I suppose you could describe it as such."

"And you're jeopardising your parole to save the life of your girlfriend's… er, sorry, wife's ex? Congratulations, by the way, on the ring and all," he added insincerely.

Mary Louise said nothing, but Bonnie could feel the heretic's aura turn ugly.

"Damon!" Bonnie warned.

"Ooops, I'm sorry. I meant … your wife's former one-night-stand." When he was met with frosty silence from both women, he elaborated: "Er… drunken hook-up? I forget the details. But it was _one_ time, right, Bon? Or did you and Nora make the most of Mary Louise's incarceration?"

"Stop it, Damon," Bonnie hissed, all too aware of the antagonism simmering out from the woman beside her. "Enzo and I started dating almost right after Nora left Virginia, and we both know how that ended. I went straight from him to you. There was never any time…"

"So it was just once," he said cheerily. "But it sure must have been one hell of a good time, if you know what I mean, for her to still think so fondly of you, eh, Bon?" He winked broadly.

"Mary Louise," Bonnie said plaintively.

"Is this supposed to wound me?" Mary Louise said suddenly, her voice cold but otherwise dismissive. "My Nora and I have shared over a century of love and devotion to each other. We've survived persecution from our family, our coven, and every society we lodged in. We found each other, and stayed by each other's side in an era when our love was punishable by death, in an era when the idea of living together was a pipe dream, when the idea of our union being legally recognized by society was a jest…"

"Nora and I," Bonnie tried again, feeling like a heel, "we were never anything meaningful…"

"Of course, you were not," Mary Louise said, her voice dripping with contempt. "Nora waited years for my return, ingratiating herself with the Gemini coven for the single purpose of securing my release. Why should I begrudge her satisfying her needs by lying with a harlot or two? I supposed I should even thank-"

The car careened around a corner with screeching tyres.

" _What did you just call me_?"

"If the shoe fits," Mary Louise sneered.

"You'd better shut up right now or I swear I will…"

"You can do nothing," Mary Louise snorted. "I could kill you just by holding your hand."

"Think I'd let you get that close? I've fought heretics before-"

"My fool brothers, maybe. But you forget I know your weakness, Bonnie Bennett. With a blink of an eye, I could send that daylight ring of Damon's flying through the window. He touches me and I will drain out the necromancy that keeps him alive, leaving him a husk of a human, with a hundred years of decay to catch up with."

The car cut in front of an SUV, and a string of curses followed them. Bonnie swallowed hard against her anger, forcing herself to calm down and not get them all killed.

"For someone who says she doesn't care about Nora and I hooking up five years ago, you sure don't sound like it," Bonnie said, keeping her voice spiteful, but cold.

"I do not care," Mary Louise hissed.

"You should," Damon drawled from the back. "You know what they say about jungle fever and all that. Once you go black…"

Bonnie drew in a sharp, scandalised breath. "Damon-" she said, disbelieving.

"I mean," he went on to Mary Louise, ignoring Bonnie, "by White chick standards, you've got a great ass. Don't get excited – you are so not my type – but I'm an ass man myself, so I notice these things. What are you, by the way? Ass or boobs?"

"You're disgusting," Mary Louise said coldly.

"I'll go by boobs because Nora's got some great jugs-" he dodged the hex that she flung his way, and laughed. "But back to asses… like I said, yours isn't bad by a long shot. But Bonnie here… _O. la. la._ Bonnie's a work of _art_. I mean, have you seen Bonnie's ass?"

The two women tensed.

"Damon," Bonnie hissed.

"I mean, I'm sure that car seat has had its fair share of asses on it, but if it could speak – if you could do some witchy woo to give it a voice – it'd be singing _Hallelujah_ right now. I know I did the first time I had a piece of that ass, and let me tell you something, I've tasted far more asses than that car seat, I can assure you."

"Damon…"

"Back in the day, when I hated Bonnie's guts, I still thought she had a great ass. 'Judgmental witch,' I'd think to myself. 'But that ass, though…' So don't hold it against Nora, Mary Louise. No one can forget Bonnie's ass."

"Shut your mouth about my wife," Mary Louise snarled.

Damon feigned injury. "Hey, I'm doing you a favour here! You need to appreciate why Nora's going to such lengths for a 'harlot'." He hooked his fingers in air quotes. "Because I've slept with hundreds, thousands of women. Lots of them 'harlots'. I've never risked life or limb for any of them the way Nora is doing for this here harlot."

"I am warning you for the last time, Vampire…"

"Oops, did I touch a nerve? I mean, you called my fiancée a whore but it seems to me that you should be learning tricks from this whore because from where I'm sitting, your wife cares a lot more about saving the whore's decidedly magnificent ass than she does about keeping _you_ safe."

The heretic said nothing to this, but Bonnie could feel her rage like a rising inferno, ready to explode.

"Damon, please," Bonnie whispered.

But he paid her no heed.

"You're a witch, right? Maybe there's a magic spell you can finagle to get an ass like hers? Hey, wait a minute… when you're sitting on Nora's face, do you think she's imagining it's Bonnie's ass…"

"Enough!" screamed Mary Louise and her hands flew out, slapping hard against the roof of the car.

Bonnie had been expecting it, but nothing could have been prepared her for the sheer force of the heretic's fury. She screamed as a bolt of magic ricocheted from the roof, bouncing off the doors, radiating through her hands on the wheel. She tried to contain it, but it was too strong – and the wheel slipped from her grip. She could hear the Damon shouting, his body rushing to cover her own as the car flew into a tailspin, the world outside the windshield spinning round and round before it stopped in a sudden roar of sound and darkness.

Then it exploded.

* * *

"Bonnie, are you alright?"

She came to slowly, her eyes staring blearily at Damon's concerned face. He was pushing his bleeding wrist into her mouth and she sipped out of habit, before she pushed it away. Some drops fells on the skirt of her white sundress, which was already smudged with dirt.

She sat up.

She was in the passenger seat of a strange car; beside her, Damon was driving, his face tense. Her eyes went immediately to the GPS on the dashboard – less than fifteen minutes to the airport.

"Where's Mary Louise?" she asked immediately.

"She did her vanishing trick before she crashed the car. I got you out in time before it exploded, and nabbed a car from one of the Good Samaritans that stopped." His face was grim. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" Bonnie mouthed. "I was in a car crash, Damon! I nearly died!"

"I know," he snipped. "I was there."

"You were there?" She knew she was sounding like a parrot but she couldn't help it, her brain was warring with disbelief and absolute fury. "You caused this-"

"Hey, wait a minute."

"You. won't. stop. talking. Where you trying to get her to kill me?"

The moment the question left her mouth, she shuddered.

Had he?

A few months ago, it would have been a rhetorical question. Damon's complete lack of tact, foresight and impulse control were not only things Bonnie accepted as a large part of his personality – without which, he won't even be really _Damon_ – they were also a big part of why she fell in love with him. His spontaneity was a foil to her own extreme premeditation. His lack of impulse control was what her excessively repressed personality needed to flourish. His 'give no fucks' attitude was the antidote to her inability to ever hold back from jumping between a friend and a foe.

A few months ago, she'd have been irritated by this turn of events, but she'd have also half-anticipated them, and been ready to mitigate them, fully aware that she and Damon would later reflect on them with amusement.

But now…

Lucy's words haunted her:

 _"It's going to be pretty effing easy for Elena to wake up if Bonnie's dead, right?"_

"Did you want her to kill me? To get…" Bonnie couldn't finish her words.

Damon started. Then his neck almost snapped with the ferocity with which he turned to glare at her. "What the fuck, Bonnie? How could you even…? The bitch called you a _whore,_ or have you forgotten? Was I supposed to just keep quiet and take it?"

"If it meant her helping us escape, yes."

"Sorry, BonBon. You're getting married to the wrong guy. That's Stefan, not me."

Before she could snap a response, he tossed her his phone. "Call Lucy and find out if Nora's still at the airport."

"Mary Louise has probably already talked her out of helping us," Bonnie said, her voice still shaking but she started scrolling through the phone. "And even if she hasn't…" She shook her head. "She's definitely reached the Gemini by now – it's the easiest thing to jump from port to port on her own. She's told them everything – where we're headed, what we're planning, maybe even the location of the crash. They might even be waiting at the airport by now."

"She won't betray her precious Nora…"

"She would if she could spin it as them actually trapping me, not helping me. Do you think she's going to be willing to risk her life or her freedom for me now? Or she'll let Nora do the same?"

Damon said nothing. But his unflappable façade shifted, showing nervousness for the first time.

Bonnie laughed bitterly. "You kept going on and on about my ass. About me teaching her a few tricks. You know what, Damon – Mary Louise called me a whore once. But you… you practically gave a sermon about me being one."

"I didn't," he said testily. "I was _defending_ you, Bonnie."

"Damon… just… just…" Thankfully, the call to Lucy connected then. "Lucy?"

"Bonnie, thank goodness! Are you all right? A group of witches left here… something about an accident on the highway."

Bonnie sighed bitterly, the little hope she had for a reprieve shattered. "Mary Louise's got to them then." She eyed Damon who swallowed hard and kept his eyes on the road. "She left us. We're on our way to the airport on our own."

"Why did she…? Ok, never mind. If Mary Louise's turned on you, then you can't trust Nora either. Turn the car around. Head out to… Gosh, I have no idea! Just head out as far away from the accident _and_ the airport as possible. I'm going to start working on this end. I haven't been able to get hold of Malachai all day. If there's a chance I could talk to him in person…"

"We're going to the airport," Damon said grimly.

"No!" Lucy yelled over the phone as Bonnie looked at him with disbelief. "Even if for some reason, Nora is still on our side, Mary Louise has probably told the Gemini everything and they'll be there, expecting you, blocking your way."

"I'll tear through the lot of them if I have to," Damon retorted. "But Bonnie's not going to be a fugitive for the rest of her life. We're getting on a plane to Virginia if I have to compel every single person in the airport to do so. The Gemini stil have to honour the Founders's sanctuary right?"

"Yes, Damon but-"

He reached over and snatched the phone from Bonnie's hand, turning it off and putting it in his jacket in one swift movement.

Bonnie gaped at him. "You're crazy. Going up against the entire coven? This is suicide."

He gave her a reckless grin. "Don't chicken out on me now, BonBon. We've fought greater odds together."

"If half of the stuff I've heard about these Gemini is for real… Damon, these are the guys that locked up the _heretics_ in the first place. You can't do this."

"Don't tell me what I can't do," he warned, and revved the engine harder, tearing down the road to the airport.

* * *

Bonnie almost believed him. Almost convinced herself that he could pull it off. Get her on that plane. To Virginia and to safety.

Five minutes to the airport, they had to slow down at an intersection as a huge ten-wheeler barrelled past.

That was when the dozen of dark-suited witches popped onto the road before them.

" _Phaesmotos Temp-"_

Bonnie pushed against the Tempus hex so fast that she lost her vision for a moment, and when she came to, there was a screeching of tyres, the smell of burning rubber that told her the ripple effects of her counter-spell had been near-disastrous.

But Damon had already put the car in reverse, barrelling against traffic as they zoomed in the opposite direction.

"Easy peasy, I told you," he crowed.

Bonnie glanced at the back mirror, seeing the dark figures that had been blasted to the ground, rising slowly. She turned back to him. "It's not over yet – _WATCH OUT!_ "

One lone figure stood before them on the road. Tall, blonde curls flying in the wind, draped in a golden dress with long sleeves that billowed as she raised her hands high to the sky.

Micah Parker.

Bonnie stretched out her own magic, shields up – and for a moment, time seemed to slow, the hairs on her skin tingling as electricity cackled between the two witches.

Then she felt the equivalent of a sucker punch slip through her magic – a spell from another witch – and for the second time that day, she lost control of the car.

It seemed to smash straight into an invisible wall, and the front crumpled like paper. She watched the glass of the windscreen shatter, the shards flying into her face… until Damon's body flew between them and her, and then they were both flying out of the vehicle.

They landed on the road, Damon lying with her on top of him, but she still felt the pain of the impact shuddering through every part of her body. Her head felt like if it was going to explode. All her joints and muscles were on fire. She could barely lift her head from where it rested on Damon's chest.

"Damon," she moaned. "Damon, we have to m-"

"Bonnie Bennett," said a loud voice.

Every motion was agony, but Bonnie managed to twist her neck to watch the older witch walking towards her, her hands spread out as power cackled from her finger-tips. Around her, a circle of witches was forming, their hands also curled in the same way. They were chanting something in Latin that made Bonnie's blood curdle, magic suffocating her.

"Damon," she groaned, tasting blood. Her nose was bleeding. "Damon… please…"

Then she fell, hitting the ground painfully as Damon rushed up from under her, moving with vamp-speed towards Micah Parker…

Only to the propelled through the air like if he had crashed into a bouncing wall.

It didn't slow him down though. He landed, feet on the ground and spun towards one of the witches, and in the blink of an eye, he had sunk his teeth into their neck, dropping the witch's body in seconds and rushing to another.

Then there was the sound of a crack, and he sank to the ground, unconscious, his neck twisted at an impossible angle.

Something red, small and bloody rolled out from under him.

 _"Nooo!"_

Pain exploded through her heart and she felt her world go dark.

Later, she would reflect that Damon's actions might have been futile, foolhardy, _reckless_ , but they had disrupted whatever spell the Gemini were casting on her, and that, plus the force of her emotions returned her strength to her.

Later.

Not now, as her magic drove her to her feet, her hands rising ready to rain fire and brimstone over the witches who had dared to lay hands on him. Who had dared to…

 _No, not dead… Not…_

 _Damon! Damon! Oh god, no!_

They tried to stop her, but their magic were useless waves crashing against the high tower of Bonnie's rage. She could see them crumpling before her, see the wreckage of her pain spiralling out from her.

 _She was going to destroy them all…_

Then she felt large hands clamp over her shoulders – and pain exploded through her body as she felt her magic being sucked out of her skin.

Over the sound of her own screams – she thought she heard Lucy's voice… but it grew fainter and fainter, as well as all light and sound…

The last thing she saw was Damon's body, lying lifelessly on the pavement and she tried to cry out…

Then darkness.

* * *

 ** _AN:_** _Damon is an ass._


	13. Dealing with the Devil

**Chapter Thirteen: Dealing with the Devil**

 _When she came to, she was sitting with her back on the wall, her legs straight before her and her bound arms in her lap. She stared at the ropes, then the bandage beneath it, around her left wrist where a trickle of blood still seeped through._

 _She was weak from blood loss, but even if she had been stronger, she could feel her magic muted, out of reach. She had been dosed with witchbane._

 _"Hello, little witch."_

 _She knew that voice. Had been haunted by it for almost two years now. She raised her eyes warily to look into Kol Mikaelson's face._

 _He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes._

 _"Miss me?" he whispered. "I would have come visit you sooner, but first I had to stop over at NOLA. Pay my respects to the 'relatives." He chuckled._

 _"How did you…"_

 _"Get out of that hell hole you trapped me in? Guess you forgot about that rock of Questiya blood in Nova Scotia… and that I have magic now."_

 _His eyes dropped to her bleeding wrist, then back to her eyes, and his smiled broadened._

 _She swallowed hard._

 _"Are you wondering why you're still alive, Bon?" he asked. He reached out and touched her wrists lightly. When she tried to yank them away, he held on fast. "Wondering why I didn't bleed you out, ounce by painful ounce? Because that's what you deserve, little witch." And his smile vanished, his face becoming hard, grim, and ancient. "You left me to rot in another prison world, after years of being trapped in one, after I saved your life over and over again."_

 _"When did you ever-"_

 _His fist tightened around her wrists and she stifled a cry._

 _"Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to talk back to your elders?"_

 _He glared at her, his eyes boring into her face as his grip tightened so hard that she cried out._

 _His hands loosened at once, and that macabre smile returned his face._

 _"Shh… I'm not going to hurt you, love… much. I spent weeks in that prison world, enough time to come up with inspired and – pardon the pun – original ways to make you suffer. And what better way to hurt a martyr like yourself than through your little friends?"_

 _Her heart slammed in her chest. "No… they had nothing to do with any of it. It was all my…"_

 _"Shhh…" His hand reached out to stroke her hair, his finger-tips touched her skin lightly. His manic eyes darkened. "Beautiful." He whispered the word like if he didn't want to. Like if he couldn't help himself._

 _Despite herself, she shivered, her stomach clenching._

 _His face twisted. "You have no idea how much you hurt me," he said. "But I'm going to make sure you find out."_

* * *

When Bonnie came to, she was in prison and her magic was gone.

Not in a Prison World – for which she would have been thankful if she was in the mood for gratitude – but in a black and chrome windowless room with a furnished bed and a pile of books. She supposed this was similar to the prison that they had housed Finn Mikaelson and Damon – _Damon! –_ after their brawl yesterday morning… Or was it much earlier? She had no idea of the passage of time.

Nor did she care.

She lay on the bed, staring at the white ceiling ahead and wondering what to do first – find a way to wreck vengeance on the Gemini coven, find a way to murder her cousin Lucy for dragging her and Damon into this mess in the first place, or crawl into herself and die – when she thought she heard a sound; and she turned her head.

An hour later, she was still lying on a bed, staring at the flower-patterned ceiling, when she heard a small cough.

She turned her head to see a tall, curly-blonde-haired witch – Bonnie recognized her at once as the same witch that had been in the motel room with JW – standing at the doorway that had suddenly appeared in the room. She wore a black suit, similar to what the other Gemini witches had worn on the road a few hours – days?– ago.

All this registered in the space of a second. Enough time for Bonnie to propel herself from the bed and lunge at the witch.

The woman lifted her hand lazily and Bonnie ran into an invisible wall.

"You were there," Bonnie growled. "On the road. You were one of those trying to… who killed…"

The woman shrugged. "Don't take it personally, I was just following orders."

Bonnie lunged at the invisible wall again, and this time her foot slid forward an inch. Her magic was coming back, slowly, but surely.

The woman looked wary. "Don't make him siphon you again. You won't like it."

"I didn't like it the first time," Bonnie growled.

"You should be thankful you were stopped before you did something you couldn't take back. If you had killed a Gemini witch, you won't like-"

" _I won't like?_ _You_ won't like what _I'm_ going to do to you," Bonnie swore. "You were _there_. The motel. You saw me kidnapped, attacked by that Traveller, and you were going to kill me. You killed Damon!" The last word was said in a wail.

"We would have done our best to take you in alive. You shouldn't have run," the other said defiantly, but she looked guilty. She sighed. "Look, this whole thing is messy and I'm the wrong person you should be talking to. Now are you going to co-operate and follow me to the person you should be talking to so we can get to the bottom of this? Or are you going to keep throwing tantrums until we have to turn the screws on you?"

"I'm going to destroy every single member of this coven if it is the last thing I do. Is that a good enough answer for you?"

The woman's eyes were dark-blue, strangely familiar, and they seemed to pierce Bonnie, as if trying to decipher the gravity of her threat. After a while, she nodded, as if coming to some inner decision.

"What if I told you that there was a way to get your boyfriend back?"

Bonnie hesitated… then she laughed bitterly. "Really?"

"We're witches, Bonnie Bennett. Are you telling me that you've never pulled anyone back from the Other Side?"

"The Other Side is destroyed."

"There are several alternate dimensions – ancestral planes, prison worlds, _other_ Other Sides. Won't you at least hear us out before you burn the world down?"

She sounded reasonable, too reasonable for Bonnie to argue with. She took a deep shuddering breath, and made her body loose and relaxed, then nodded at the other woman. "Fine."

The woman gave her one last wary look, then muttered a spell under her breath. Bonnie could feel the barrier whoosh upwards and away. "My name is Olivia Parker, by the way. I think you knew my twin."

Bonnie blinked. "Luke?"

"One and the same." Something like pain flashed through the woman's eyes, then she blinked and her face was neutral. "Please come this way."

With one last wary look around herself, Bonnie followed.

* * *

The architecture of the building didn't make sense. After leaving the prison cell, Bonnie followed her guide/gaoler through rooms and corridors with windows where light poured in from conflicting angles, climbed up steps that seemed to either move imperceptibly or were constructed in geometrically impossible ways. Even with only tendrils of magic coursing through her, she could feel the weight of the incantations holding this place up, beating against her aura. One wrong spell and this whole structure would come crashing down. It made her feel slightly claustrophobic.

Finally, she was led through two huge panelled doors to a large room, designed like a private office or study. It was dominated by a large table by the window, with a miniature solar system on one end, the planetary bodies suspended in mid-air, and rotating and revolving slowly. An imitation, Bonnie realized with a little thrill, of actual celestial movement.

The room was mostly furnished with ceiling-high bookshelves, stuffed with tomes and manuscripts. There was a dead fireplace at the end of it, and armchairs arranged in a circle, with three empty seats.

Bonnie recognised almost everyone present. Lucy Bennett, who gave Bonnie one panicked, guilty glance, then just as quickly looked away; Joe Parker who wore an unusually grave expression that did not fit his easy-going face; Micah Parker – and even now, the sight of the woman made Bonnie's blood boil, and only the mantra in her head kept her from hurling herself at the older woman. From the look on the older woman's face, she wasn't very happy to see Bonnie either. She glared at Bonnie in defiance.

Bonnie looked away quickly, not wanting to be further incited by the sight of the woman – and her eyes fell on the last person she should have expected to meet in Portland.

Abby Bennett.

Her mother returned Bonnie's gaping look with an expressionless face.

"Sit, please," Olivia Parker said as she took the empty seat beside Micah Parker.

Although the seats were arranged in a circle, there was a clear division between the Parkers and the Bennetts. Bonnie could either take the seat between her cousin and her mother – or the seat in the middle of the Parkers.

With every appearance of extreme reluctance, she dropped herself in between her mother and her cousin.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lucy turn to her, lift an uncertain hand towards her -

"Don't," Bonnie hissed, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

\- Lucy's hand dropped back to her lap.

Joe Parker cleared his throat, then threw an uncertain glance at the two Parkers women on the other side of the empty seat, then turned to Bonnie.

"Ms Bennett, can I express my sincerest apologies for the-"

"You're apologising," Micah Parker said in a voice dripping with disbelief and disdain, "for the death of a _vampire_?"

Bonnie let out a low growl. "His name is – was …" Her voice broke off, clearly overcome.

Lucy tried to touch her shoulder, and Bonnie shoved her off roughly.

"The only reason why I am here," Bonnie said through gritted teeth, "is because she" – she jerked her chin in Olivia Parker's direction – "said something about getting Damon back. Otherwise, I promise you all that you will pay for his death."

Joe Parker started. Micah looked ready to explode.

"And the witch he murdered?" Micah Parker asked, danger in her voice. "Who will pay for that death?"

Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "Damon won't have killed anyone if he didn't have to defend me in the first place!"

" _Bonnie_ ," Abby hissed but Bonnie ignored her.

"He won't have had to defend you if you hadn't run!"

"I won't have run if I hadn't been falsely accused!"

"And you won't have been falsely accused if you hadn't had such a deplorable history with vampires in the first place!"

From the corner of her eye, Bonnie could see Joe Parker make a despairing gesture in his sister's general direction that she ignored.

Bonnie rose to her feet, ignoring Lucy's reaching hand, and Abby's stern face. "When I get my magic back, you will be the first to-"

"It might be best for you to hold that thought until _after_ you get your magic, Bonnie Bennett."

Bonnie gaped at the sudden sight of Jerk Warlock – sitting across from the chair that had been empty a few seconds ago, looking straight at her with a smirk on his face.

"My baby sister, bless her soul, is probably the most infuriating person in the world and I'm very sure she deserves every horrible punishment you have in store for her. But until you can back it up, it would be foolish of you to threaten her on her own turf."

"You!" Bonnie gasped.

"Yep. _Me!_ "

"Who the hell are you?"

From the palpable silence that followed, as every eye on the room turned to regard her with varying expressions of disbelief – and in Lucy's case, acute embarrassment – Bonnie realized the answer.

She sat down abruptly.

"Er… good question." He rubbed the back of his neck with a pseudo-embarrassed gesture. "You might not believe this but when I left that note about how awkward things were going to get, I didn't have the foggiest idea…"

She felt like sinking into her chair even before JW said, with that insufferable smirk on his face, "I guess it's way past time we got properly introduced. Malachai Parker, at your service. I'm also, you know, the leader of the Gemini Coven."

* * *

For a good ten minutes, the Bennetts and the Parkers argued intensely but Bonnie didn't hear a word. She was too busy mentally reliving every single mortifying encounter she had ever had with Jerk Warlock… no, not Jerk Warlock – _Malachai Parker_ , the Gemini coven _leader_ …

And from the twinkle in his eye at her direction, the few times she summoned courage to sneak a glance at him, she knew that he knew where her thoughts were.

She wondered if she could make the ground open up and swallow her by sheer force of will. She was a witch. Surely she could come up with something?

It was only when she heard her name in Lucy's shrill voice that she came to.

"What?" she asked, startled at the sudden expectant silence that had fallen over the group.

All eyes were on her. They were waiting for her.

She was never so thankful for her dark skin's ability to hide a blush, as she was at that moment.

"Can you recount what happened after you left the _Intampina_ two mornings ago?" Joe Parker repeated gently. "We need to account for your whereabouts."

 _Two mornings!_ Bonnie realized with a shock. So between the drive to the airport and waking up in that prison room, she had been passed out for at least twenty-four hours. No wonder her mother had got here in time.

"I'm not saying anything until we've talked about getting Damon back," Bonnie insisted.

The three older Parkers exchanged glances, then turned identically disapproving glances at Olivia Parker.

The blonde shrugged. "What? I had to tell her something. How else was I going to get her to come here without kicking and screaming?"

"We agreed," Joe said wearily, "that we would approach the subject gradually…"

Olivia shrugged again. "So I did us all a favour and broke her in to the idea. You're welcome."

Joe sighed heavily. Micah looked at the younger woman with intense disapproval. JW – _Malachai Parker –_ threw her a fond expression.

It struck Bonnie suddenly how improbable it was that the Parkers were siblings. Micah had two almost full grown daughters. There was no way she wasn't Abby's age, a few years less at the most. But Luke had been a junior in Bonnie's freshman year at Whitmore. Making him and Olivia two years older than Bonnie. Joe Parker looked a few years older. That put a generational gap between the twins and their older sibling.

It wasn't unheard of, but wow, poor old Mrs. Parker.

And where did Malachai fit into the group? Micah looked the oldest - but he had called her his 'baby sister'. Now _that_ was definitely impossible, Bonnie decided, throwing the man a furtive glance from under her eyelashes. She doubted he was even as old as Joe. Malachai looked closer to Olivia's age than any of his other siblings.

Something here wasn't adding up.

"Perhaps if we could clear up this business of Bonnie Bennett's involvement with the Travellers, we can then go on to discuss other matters…" Joe Parker was saying, looking tentatively at Bonnie.

Now that the meeting was fully underway, Bonnie noticed that he was the one who did most of the talking for the Gemini. Malachai mostly just sat and smirked; Micah sat and glared; and Olivia sat and struggled – and failed – not to look bored out of her mind.

"Am I still being accused of helping the Travellers?" Bonnie snapped, and her anger quickly rushed back.

"No, _no_ , of course not."

"But I had been, hadn't I? Even though you two," her eyes landed on Malachai and Olivia Parker in turn, "saw what they did to me?"

A sudden tension seemed to run through the Parker clan. Even Olivia seemed affected by it, her semi-bored slouch straightening.

"The order for your capture was… impulsive," Joe Parker said, finally, his voice regretful but careful. "We should have waited to get more information before acting. Perhaps lives might have been spared."

" _We_?" JW – _Malachai Parker_ dammit, Bonnie corrected herself mentally – said _sotto voce_.

Was it Bonnie's imagination or did his eyes shift warningly at Micah Parker? The woman certainly seemed to stiffen where she sat.

"Are Nora and… Mary Louise all right?" Bonnie asked. She didn't give two figs about Mary Louise. But in all fairness to the heretic, she had tried to help Bonnie until Damon goaded her beyond measure.

Bonnie scowled at her thoughts. She was irritated with herself for even _thinking_ a defence at a woman who had literally called her a slut; and she was irritated with Damon for putting her in a position where she could feel sympathy for a woman who called her a slut.

Micah scoffed, speaking for the first time after her long silence. "The heretics will be…"

"… pardoned for protecting their ally – _our_ ally in light of a baseless accusation and insubordinate orders that were issued without approval from the proper authority," Malachai Parker said. His voice was mild, but there was an undercurrent of steel in it that made the hairs stand on the back of Bonnie's neck.

For a moment, Micah glared at her brother – then she looked away, in clear defeat.

Bonnie glanced at her family, noted Lucy's worried face, and her mother's blank one, then she looked at the other Parkers – Olivia looked amused, Joe looked embarrassed.

He cleared his throat. "Ms. Bennett, please can you answer the question. Give us your whereabouts two days ago please?"

Bonnie did, recounting as much as possible her movements from the Gemini cathedral, to the abduction on the highway, the long drive to the motel room, Hans and Mia's disappearance with the Ascendants, and finally Ivan's attack on her.

Abby looked horrified by the time she was done. "Oh, Bonnie," she said sadly. "I told you not to come here. I told you…" Her voice broke off miserably.

Bonnie glared at her and said nothing out loud, but mentally she was saying: _Bit too late in the day to play the concerned mom act, Abby_. A question occurred to her to ask. "What the heck are you doing here anyway?"

"I called her," Lucy said sharply. "She asked me to keep her informed on whatever happened in Portland. Once she got the news, she flew right in. Which is a good thing because we need the numbers and Abby has known the Parker family for a long time."

From the frosty look that Abby threw at Malachai Parker, Bonnie didn't see how that could be regarded as an advantage.

 _"The Gemini are… They're not like you. Or me. Or most witches for that matter. They're hard, they're cold. And their leader is… Their leader is dangerous, Bonnie."_

The others started talking about Bonnie's statement, and she probably should have been paying attention but her mind was wandering again, playing over her mother's words from what was already feeling like long ago. She stared hard at Malachai Parker, where he sat with casual authority in his armchair, dressed in black slacks and shirt, his ankles crossed, and his fingers steepled together in front of him as he watched the others keenly.

He looked the same as always – irreverent, handsome if you liked them tall, dark, leanly muscled and slightly dangerous looking. Not for the first time, Bonnie wondered why he always seemed vaguely familiar to her. It was more than just his resemblance to Luke or the rest of his family. _He_ looked familiar to her, although she could have sworn that she had never met him before that awkward morning in his hotel…

Suddenly, his keen gaze turned on Bonnie's and locked on.

Her breath caught. She couldn't look away. Her eyes were actually prickling from the effort of not blinking when she felt something like a charge leap from his eyes to hers.

His dark eyes widened – he had felt it, too. She didn't know whether to be relieved or alarmed but at least it broke that inexplicable intensity.

Bonnie looked away at once, her throat suddenly thick.

"The Traveller said she came willingly," Olivia Parker was saying, "with the Ascendants she had stolen from the Temple with her."

"What?" Bonnie asked, hoarsely.

"Said that we walked into a lovers's quarrel," Oliva continued blithely.

"That's a blatant… that's ridiculous…!" Bonnie was at a loss for words, and turned to her cousin. "Lucy!"

Lucy glared at the Parkers. "That's an insult to my cousin, and our family. I cannot believe all your evidence was based on the testimony of a Traveller."

"Your family is descended from Travellers," Micah snapped.

"The Travellers were part of the Gemini once," Abby retorted sharply. "If we're going to judge based on past loyalties, then I suggest we start from right here in this room."

To Bonnie's surprise, Micah deflated, her face darkening with embarrassed anger.

Abby went on, "If all you have is the word of a Traveller, then bring him forward and we Bennetts will cast a _Veritus_ spell on him and have the truth out of him."

Malachai made a face. "Good idea. Only thing is… you guys are the only one who can cast that spell, and considering it's your daughter who's on trial here…"

"Bonnie's not –"

"I mean, whose alibi we're verifying… You can see the conflict of interest here, can't you?"

Abby's jaw tightened. "There are ways of checking if a spell is tampered with and you know it, Malachai."

"I know it, and most of the people in this room know that, too. But the problem is everyone else who'll be left believing some funny business went down between the Parkers and the Bennetts. You know what they say that it's not enough that justice be done… but justice should be seen to be done… and all that."

Abby suddenly laughed, bitter.

"Justice? You want to talk about justice, Malachai? Because if there was any justice in the world, you won't be sitting in that chair right now."

Shockingly, her mother's barb hit: the smirk wiped clean off the coven leader's face to be replaced with an expression that almost seemed like… hurt?

Then it vanished at once, amused indifference back in place – a mask, Bonnie realized now.

"Life isn't fair," he said blithely. "But I concede Abby's point. The spell is enough to prove her innocent. It has to be. And it will help us get valuable information from him as well."

Olivia looked offended. "I doubt he'd tell us anything new." She cracked her knuckles meaningfully.

"I'm not criticising your technique, Livvie Poo," Malachai said with a small smile. "But there's no harm getting a second opinion on these things, Livvie poo."

She seemed marginally mollified.

"What about the backlash from using the Bennetts's magic to prove the Bennett's innocence?" Joe Parker asked, throwing Bonnie an apologetic look.

"Sometimes we have to satisfy ourselves with the reality of justice, and not the appearance of it. Left to choose, I know what Bonnie will prefer."

Bonnie's started at her name, once again realizing his heavy gaze had turned on her.

This time she looked steadily away, refusing to fall into the trapdoor of his eyes.

"What Bonnie would prefer," she said through gritted teeth, "is to get her fiancé back. I've told you all that I know. I've done my part. Now do yours."

Micah Parker's glare was intense enough to stab Bonnie but Bonnie was more interested in the way Joseph Parker and Olivia Parker exchanged uneasy glances.

There was a loaded silence on the Parkers's part. Then their leader shrugged, as if making a decision, and started speaking. "There are ways of fetching a lost soul from the Limbos between this existence and … Beyond," he explained. "But even when the Other Side existed, a soul needed to have… how should I put this? … sufficient _motivation_ to linger. Unfinished business, so to speak. Would you say that your Damon has-"

"Yes," Bonnie said bluntly. "Me."

Did she imagine the sudden dark cloud that swept over his face?

"Of course," he said mildly. She must have imagined it. "Begs the question, really but I had to ask. In that case, fetching your fiancé shouldn't be a problem, especially during this time of the year. Any other period, I'd say it would take about a month to scry through all the realms for his whereabouts. Now that it's the period of the _Sollemne Dioskouri_ , we'd probably have him back in a few hours."

"Your coven's powers increase as the sun enters the Gemini constellation?" Bonnie wondered out loud.

"And are strongest at the zenith," he confirmed. "Which is in a few days. It's the reason why Hans and Mia are trapped in whatever Prison World they've found themselves in. With or without an Ascendant, they will be unable to return to reality until my hold on that world is loosened. Which will not be for a considerable number of days."

Bonnie remembered how indifferent he had been when she had tried to warn him about the whereabouts of the other Travellers.

She could tell from the twinkle in his eyes that he remembered that, too.

"You could have told me," she said testily. "I was going on and on about you going after the Travellers when all along, you had them in a trap."

"I suppose I could have." He shrugged. "But it seemed more important at the time to make sure you were OK. My priorities are crazy, I know."

His voice was still mild, but there was a sudden tension in it that had Bonnie blinking at him in surprise.

"Apart from foiling would-be Prison breakouts, the boost of power applies pretty much across board to all our magic. It's the reason why this is the busiest time of the year for us – a lot of the other covens and a few other supernaturals know it's the most practical time to come collecting or requesting favors from the Gemini. And we usually accommodate such requests. That's why we throw everyone a big party in the fancy hotels. Favors are currency in our world." And with that, he and Lucy exchanged nods.

"How nice for you," Bonnie said insincerely. "In that case, bring Damon back now."

"Er… I might need something from you in exchange for that."

Her eyes narrowed. "I've told you all I know. It's your turn to do your part, make things right."

"Yes, of course, that is the most important thing here… doing the right thing… You see, we… well, I…" he amended when Joe and Olivia threw him warning looks and Micah just looked irritated... "First, I'm a bit concerned that the instant we'd give you your boyfriend, you'd walk out of here in the middle of the _Sollemne_ – which, by the way, would be a huge _faux pas_ on your part and I personally would never be able to live it down that a Bennett gate-uncrashed my party… is that a real verb?"

Bonnie stared at him, her incredulity increasing.

"Sorry, I'm rambling. I get that when I'm nervous. You know, talking to pretty girls." When his siblings and Olivia stared at him, he pretended to be startled. "Oops, forgot these guys were in the room."

Was this guy for real? If Bonnie didn't know any better, she'd swear he was having her on.

"Let's just say that I would prefer to give you your boyfriend back _after_ the _Solemme_." He ignored the strangled sound coming out of Bonnie's throat and went on. "Until then, you do your best to have a great time. I know you know that I know that you know a lot of old 'friends' around here," he winked at her outraged gasp, "and I'm sure you won't miss your fiancé, well, too much." His eyes brightened up as if an idea had just popped into his head. "Think of it as an extended bachelorette party!" he exclaimed.

Bonnie exploded.

" _Do you think this is funny?_ Is this … my fiancé… my life a joke to you?" Bonnie asked, and she realized with a shock that her voice was hoarse, the words pushing past a closed throat she wasn't faking.

She had told his guy – _this Gemini coven leader_ – everything about herself in one drunken confession that she wished with all her heart and soul she could go back and undo. And now he was mocking her with it. She didn't know why it hurt so much. She barely knew him. Certainly shouldn't have expected anything from him. But she realized that a part of her must have had. A part of her had somehow concluded from her odd, random encounters with this man that underneath the veneer of sarcasm and feigned indifference had lain a decent human being.

Clearly, she had been wrong.

Lucy and Abby glanced at her with concern, and Bonnie felt her face heating up. She looked away, blinking rapidly.

"Bonnie…" Malachai said, and the humorous lilt in his voice had gone.

Joe Parker cut in. "What my brother is trying to say… badly… is that we'd prefer to keep your fiancé as …" he coughed uncomfortably. "… collateral against your good behavior."

"Why?"

Olivia sighed heavily. "Can you blame us? Because we can't blame _you_ if you're so pissed off by everything, you decide to grab your BF and throw your lot in with the Travellers. People've turned against us for less and we did, you know, murder your boyfriend. Even though, he murdered one of our own," she added hastily, at Micah's berating glare.

"I would never-"

"And that's the second thing," Malachai said, rubbing his neck in an awkward gesture. "Before we can even _begin_ to attempt to bring Damon back, we need to first resurrect the witch that he murdered. If you stop to think about it, it's perfectly reasonable."

Abby, who hadn't seemed particularly concerned about his first condition, suddenly threw a sharp, almost-warning glance at his direction.

Bonnie noticed and her eyes narrowed, also suspicious. This was a new angle. "What if you can't? What if this dead witch doesn't have any 'unfinished business'? You'll change your mind about Damon?"

"Well, it certainly will complicate things. It won't be seen as righting an injustice anymore, will it? It would have to be a favour the Gemini would be doing for you; and favours must be paid back."

Abby sucked in her breath. " _Malachai_ …" It was growled like a threat.

Bonnie gave her a panicked look. "Damon was defending me…"

"He didn't have to kill anyone to do so," Joe Parker said softly.

"And if this witch can't be resurrected, I do you a favour and Damon lives?"

The leader of the coven grinned broadly. "Simple as that."

"What's the favour?"

"'Need to know' only. If the witch comes back, you won't ever need to. Besides, what difference will it make to you?" A strange light flickered in his eyes. "If it gets to that point, are you really going to back out of it, let your precious fiancé stay dead?"

His tone annoyed Bonnie, as well as the implication in it that she would go along with anything he demanded if Damon's life was on the line.

"I still want to know."

He shook his head slowly, smiling slightly.

Bonnie glared at him.

Everyone else exchanged uncomfortable looks - except Abby who was still glaring at Malachai Parker.

"I would seriously advice against accepting this, Bonnie," she warned quietly.

"Why not, Abby? I think it's a good offer, Bonnie," Lucy said tentatively.

Bonnie turned wrathful eyes at her cousin. " _You_ would think so. This must be a dream come true for you, isn't it? I'm betting you'll find some way at the end of this whole thing, to keep Damon from coming back."

"Bonnie!" Lucy cried, looking wounded.

Bonnie looked away – from her cousin, from everyone. She bowed her head and stared hard at her fingers, clasped firmly together in her lap.

For a long moment, no one said anything. Bonnie stared hard at her hands, counting down in her head. Then she sighed deeply and lifted her face.

The first gaze she caught was her mother's. Abby's face was composed, as always, but when Bonnie looked hard, she saw the small, imperceptible shake of her mother's head.

Bonnie returned it with a scowl, and turned to Malachai Parker. She caught his gaze at once and it surprised her – dark, intense, no trace of humor in his face. Then she blinked and his usual, indifferent half-smile was in place and she wondered if she had imagined that look on his face.

"Fine. I'll take it."

She ignored her mother's heavy sigh.

The contract was signed in Parker and Bennett blood.

In a few moments, she and her mother and cousin were following Olivia Parker out of the meeting room. Just before she stepped through the door, Bonnie threw one last glance over her shoulder at Malachai Parker – and just as she expected, he was staring back at her.

She shook her head and turned away.

* * *

On their way back to the hotels from the corner that Olivia had ported them to, Lucy kept trying to talk to Bonnie, and Bonnie kept snubbing her cousin until Lucy finally gave up. Abby told her that she had been given a room in Lucy's hotel, but she would pull strings to either get Bonnie into her own hotel – an offer that Bonnie roundly rejected – or she would try to get into Bonnie's hotel. Bonnie didn't care for the latter either, but there was no avoiding it so she said nothing in objection to it.

The only conversation Bonnie conceded to have with her mother was regarding the situation at Mystic Falls. The last Bonnie and Damon had been in touch with Stefan and the others, they were fleeing to the airport and asking the town to prepare to give them sanctuary. Damon had even got Sarah Salvatore to fly to Virginia to receive them. Bonnie was half-surprised that the Mystic Falls contingent hadn't descended on Portland, guns a-blazing.

Abby told her she'd handle it. How? Bonnie wanted to know. Abby didn't elaborate. Bonnie had to be satisfied that her mother would manage.

She had managed everything else so far, hadn't she?

Abby tried to talk about Damon on a more personal level but Bonnie shut her down so brusquely, that she finally gave up. The two women left Bonnie in her hotel room, and might have lingered longer if Bonnie hadn't shoved them out of it.

The hotel room she had shared with Damon felt empty without him. Bonnie sank into the bed, and tried not to cry, remembering the night before and how she had slept with his arms wrapped tight around her. She didn't sleep, just remained still for a long time, resting, thinking, mourning.

At least her magic was fully back, she thought in a weak attempt to cheer up. She could feel it, coursing reassuringly through her veins.

When she finally pulled out of her funk, it was early evening.

It was barely evening, and she could see that the desk-phone had messages for her. She listened to all of them in order, and planned the rest of her day.

An hour later, she had showered, rolled up her mess of hair into one big bun, changed into comfortable jeans and one of Damon's flannel shirts over a white tee, and stood by the window, waiting.

There was a sudden burst of magic, and right on time, Malachai Parker stood in the middle of her room.

* * *

 _A/N:_


	14. The Performance of Her Life

**Chapter Fourteen: The Performance of Her Life**

* * *

Bonnie shouldn't have been surprised: his presence made the most sense. But she still started a little at the sight of him, Malachai Parker, Gemini Coven Leader, the man formerly known as Jerk Warlock, here in her room and ready to take her to-

"Are you taking me to…?" her voice trailed off, just in case.

He inclined his head. "Of course, I am. I _am_ the coven leader." He paused. "If this is going to work, it has to stay between just us. I hope that was made clear-"

Bonnie stiffened in irritation. "I know how to keep my mouth shut, obviously. Believe it or not, I don't make it a habit of going on benders and spilling my guts to perfect strangers."

"Only ex-boyfriends, then?" He must have seen the flash of rage on her face, because he backed down, lifting up a hand in peace offering. "Sorry, poor taste. That wasn't even what I meant."

Bonnie glared at him. "Can we go now?"

He gave her an once-over. "You're ready."

"You're early."

"I know. I-I wanted to talk to you." For the first time since she had met him, he actually looked embarrassed. "To a-apologize…"

"About what?" she asked with false indifference. "Making me look like a fool at the meeting? That probably wasn't even too hard, was it?"

He sighed again. "I never…"

"You never what? Pretended to me that you were some ordinary guy, and not the fricking coven leader? Guess you figured I was too much of a 'train-wreck'" - she curved her fingers in air quotes - "to be honest with? Do you and my mom even hate each other or was that part of the act?"

A mask fell over his face. "That's a question you'll have to ask her. As for pretending… when exactly was I supposed to tell you? When you were throwing up in my bathroom or when you were bleeding out in that motel room?"

Bonnie didn't have anything to say to that, and fumed inwardly. Then she walked to him in abrupt steps. "Look, I know it's early but the sooner we leave…"

"I said I wanted to talk to you," he repeated. "Bonnie, earlier today… I'm sorry if I hurt-"

"You didn't," she said abruptly. "You _couldn't_ because _you don't know me_. Don't think one drunken night told you anything about me."

He pursed his lips. "That wasn't… When I made that joke about having an extended bachelorette party, I wasn't referring to anything you had said that night – just the well-known fact that you were about to be _married_ ," he clarified through grounded teeth. His veneer of unflappable amiability had completely vanished, she noticed, revealing a tenseness underneath to match her own.

Good.

"Mm… hmmm…"

He scowled at her noncommittal hum. "No one would have even thought twice about what I said if you hadn't reacted the way you did."

"I didn't react any-"

"For the record, Bonnie Bennett – your life is not a joke to me. Nor should it be to anyone." His eyes narrowed. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk about. This plan… I'm not a big fan."

"I thought the plan was _your_ idea?" Bonnie asked, surprised.

He made a face. "Maybe I've thought things through. Realized asking you to play a part in it…"

"And then what happens if I don't?" she asked, suspicious. "You take action-"

"Maybe I'll ask you for something else in exchange," he cut in.

And there a way he said it - his voice pitching deep and low, the corner of his lip turning up slowly, sinfully…

Heat rushed through Bonnie, and she took a step back in almost-panic.

"W-we made a deal. It's binding, isn't it?"

The sudden sombreness of his expression both answered her question and filled her with relief.

"Besides," she went on. "It's a remarkable opportunity to catch the traitor in your midst."

"An opportunity for you to wear a target on your back."

Abby's exact words. Bonnie's eyes narrowed, wondering what these two had discussed behind her back. "That's for me to worry about. I'll do whatever it takes. Just keep your end with Damon."

There was a long silence and Bonnie fidgeted under his brooding gaze. "Look, there isn't much t–"

"You guys kissed and made up rather quickly, didn't you?" He ignored Bonnie's gasp, an eyebrow cocking arrogantly as he went on: "Somehow I don't think you took my pre-marriage counselling advice. And yet here you are, going into all this trouble for him. I'm curious, being a witch myself: how does the whole immortal vampire and mortal witch thing work?

"That's none of your business," she hissed.

"I mean," he continued as if she hadn't spoken, "how well have you thought this through? There's the question of kids, obviously. Contrary to what Twilight would have you believe, vampire sperm is sterile." He looked at her expectantly, but when she just seethed, refusing to be provoked, he went on. "And then what happens when you turn forty, fifty, ninety? At some point you start looking like a dirty old woman and her paid gigolo–?"

"Maybe none of these things would be a problem because I'd be a vampire?"

She didn't mean it, of course. It was something that she'd never have done, even before Kol's curse on Elena took away that option. But she snarled the words just to cut off that mocking tirade.

From the immediate way he fell silent, his face hardening with outrage, it clearly worked.

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

Bonnie gulped, his reaction unnerving her. "I wasn't…"

"What kind of witch would even joke about a thing like that?"

Her temper flared back. "This witch. _Malachai Parker_ ," she ground out. "Me. Now for the last time, you don't know me. We have a deal: you do your part and I do mine and when it's over, you'll never see me again and be scandalised about my bad witch lifestyle."

"For once, you and I are in complete agreement."

The urge to lash at him – with words, with magic or just plain fists was so strong that Bonnie had to clench her hands at her side and lock her jaw to keep the angry words at bay. She lifted her chin and glared up at him with intense dislike and he matched the look, his gaze burning down into hers, while his nostrils flaring slightly. They were breathing heavily and for the second time that day, Bonnie felt that dangerous charge pass in the air between them.

For the second time, panic rose up in Bonnie; and she broke away from that intense staring match and took a step back. "Just… take me to him, already," she said hoarsely, feeling confused.

Over her head, she heard him inhale shallowly, then clear his throat. She braced herself for it, but she still flinched when his arm went around her, his large hand on her back drawing her so near to him that the heat of his body seemed to scorch her own.

"Close your eyes."

This time she obeyed.

* * *

When she opened them, she was in a black and chrome room, with a plain white ceiling. There were no windows but there was a door in the far wall, slightly ajar through which she could hear the sounds of running water.

"Cozy," he murmured, his breath so close to her that it washed over her face.

She was still in his grip, barely an inch of air between their bodies, and she pushed away from him hastily. He let his arm drop. His face was closed, his voice frosty as he spoke.

"Abby will cover for you. I'll be back six on the dot. Do us all a favour and bear that time mind. I won't want my eyes scoured."

She gaped at him, and almost missed the movement of his hand reaching into the pocket of his slacks, to pull out a familiar object that he held out in front of her.

"This might help you keep track of time."

It was her phone. Battery definitely dead, and looking slightly for worse for wear. But her phone alright. The same one that had been in the purse the Travellers had thrown into the grass.

"How did you…?"

"Obviously, my powers aren't affected by my coven's spell that blocks yours here. When Lucy first told me you were missing, my locator spell mapped your trail. We found the purse where they grabbed you."

"T-thank you," she said softly.

Gingerly, she reached for her phone. She really tried, but despite her best efforts, her fingers brushed against his palm.

She dropped the phone right back into his hand. Then she mentally kicked herself, and while avoiding his eyes, she grabbed the phone back, slipped it into her pocket and only then did she raise her gaze up defiantly.

He eyed her back, his gaze now brooding to the point of anger, and once again Bonnie felt that tension…

He broke it first, stepped back and tipped his head at her casually. " _Au revoir_ , BB."

"Wait!"

The confluence of magic wrapping around his form halted and he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What you said earlier - about needing a favour in exchange for 'bringing Damon back' if your witch doesn't resurrect? Was that part of the act?"

Finally, real anger flashed across his face. It was just a flash but it was enough to make Bonnie take a step back. "What?"

His voice and his gaze when he spoke was so frosty, she shivered. "No. That was no act."

"She didn't' say anything about that before," Bonnie protested. When he just eyed her with that cold gaze, she asked. "What is the favour?"

"I told you already. Strictly 'needs to know'."

Then the façade slipped back on his face – and he smirked.

Like the Cheshire cat, his stupid smirk was the last thing to disappear.

For a moment, Bonnie just stood there, staring angrily at the space he had just vacated.

"Bonnie, is that you?"

She turned at the sound of that dear, dear voice, and in a heartbeat, she had crossed the room and leaped into the arms of the man who had just stepped through the door. He was still damp, a low towel on his waist and he was everything she wanted.

Damon laughed as Bonnie buried her face into his neck, her limbs wrapping around him like a vine. "Missed me, have you?" he crowed, pressing kisses into her hair, then pushing her away so that he could put his hands on her cheeks and kiss her long and deep. Her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist and she tugged at the towel as he walked her, still locked in that kiss, to the bed, and they fell down into it.

* * *

When Bonnie woke, she was lying on her side, and Damon was the first thing she saw. For a moment, she just drank her fill of him. Then she let her gaze turn inwards as she relived the events of twenty-four hours ago:

* * *

 _Twenty-four hours ago_

When Bonnie came to, she was in prison and her magic was gone.

Not in a Prison World – for which she would have been thankful if she was in the mood for gratitude – but in a black and chrome windowless room with a furnished bed and a pile of books. She supposed this was similar to the prison that they had housed Finn Mikaelson and Damon – _Damon! –_ after their brawl yesterday morning… Or was it much earlier? She had no idea of the passage of time.

Nor did she care.

She lay on the bed, staring at the white ceiling ahead and wondering what to do first – find a way to wreck vengeance on the Gemini coven, find a way to murder her cousin Lucy for dragging her and Damon into this mess in the first place, or crawl into herself and die – when she thought she heard a sound; and she turned her head.

She sat up abruptly, almost choking with disbelieving relief, to look into Damon's face.

In a heartbreat, she was on her feet, and had leaped into his arms, hugging him tight with her arms and legs. "Oh my god, Damon! How are you…? I thought…?"

He held her tight. "I don't die easily, sweetheart."

He pushed her away so that he could put his hands on her cheeks and kiss her long and deep.

She broke the kiss to stare hard into his eyes. "How can this be? I saw you die. You can't be real. The heretics have illusion magic. I think the Gemini have it too…"

He nodded. "Good point. Ask me anything, Bon."

She thought for a moment. "Where's Ms Cuddles?"

He laughed, his eyes bright and happy. "Trick question, Bon. 1994 Ms Cuddles is in your bedroom in Whitmore. Then Original Ms Cuddles is in my bedroom in the Salvatore Mansion…"

He had barely finished when Bonnie grabbed his head and kissed him hard.

She didn't know how this was possible. She had seen him die – seen his heart ripped out of his back. But he was here, warm, strong in her arms. And she never wanted to leave them.

A loud cough made them break apart.

Both of them turned to stare in disbelief at the last person they ever expected to see then.

Abby Bennett stood by a door that had materialised out of thin air, her face sober, her arms crossed in front.

"Mom…?" Bonnie gaped.

"I told you not to come here," Abby said quietly, but there was more sadness than disapproval in her voice.

"Mom… Abby… what are you doing here?" Bonnie stammered.

"We have a lot to talk about, Bonnie," Abby continued in the same sad voice. "Perhaps you both should sit."

Bonnie did so immediately, Damon following a heartbeat later, and he threw an arm over her shoulders.

Abby sat on a chair across from them and started.

"When I found out from Lucy that you were still coming to Portland, I made her promise to update me regularly on everything that happened. And I have contacts of my own, that kept me in the loop. The moment I heard about the manhunt for you, I took the first flight to Portland. I knew it was ridiculous. Either you were being deliberately framed or someone was jumping to conclusions. But by the time, I got here it was too late. The fight with Micah Parker… Damon…" She hesitated, looking at Bonnie as if expecting a reaction.

When Bonnie said nothing, Abby went on. "Since I've been here, I've had words with the coven _leader_ ," she all but hissed the word, "and every member of his barbaric family. They've backed off, Bonnie. It's clear now that none of this should have happened."

"But I saw…" Bonnie turned to Damon. "I saw _you_ die. I saw them _rip your heart out of your chest_."

Damon nodded, his face turning grim. "I _did_ die, Bonnie. Crossed over to some limbo world and everything. Heck, I even felt…" His voice trailed off.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Probably my imagination. But _I did die,_ Bonnie. Don't ask me how I came back, _why_ I came back. I just did. I was gone. Then I was back. I opened my eyes, and Abby was waiting for me. We exchanged pleasantries, then she went for you."

Bonnie turned sharply to her mother. "Did you bring him back?" she asked, earnestly. If Abby had saved Damon, it would mean that her mother accepted him, _loved_ Bonnie enough to accept the man that would be her husband.

But Abby shook her head, frowning at Damon, and she didn't see the hope twisting her daughter's face. "Neither I nor the Gemini leader – I already asked – are responsible for his resurrection. Bonnie, I came here to fight for _your_ safety. I came here believing he was already dead."

That stupid hope vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Abby didn't say it, but she didn't have to – it was obvious from the flicker of derision on her face as she deigned to give her future son-in-law a sideways glance:

 _I believed your fiancé was dead and I couldn't care less_.

Disappointed anger flashed through Bonnie and she scoffed. "Of course, you didn't have anything to do with saving Damon. Bet you were glad he was dead when you heard it, weren't you?"

Abby pressed her lips together tightly and stayed silent. Bonnie blinked back a sudden burst of angry tears, and shifted closer to Damon who tightened his arm around her.

"You didn't want me to come here, Abby. You were afraid of me getting involved with the Gemini. Well, if you had cared so much you should have come here sooner. As always, Abby, your presence in my life is too little, too late."

Damon whistled lowly.

Abby's jaw dropped, shock rippling her placid features. She got her composure back quickly enough, but not before she blinked hard, her eyes shining for a heartbeat.

Bonnie felt a twinge of guilt and pushed it down, looking away from the other woman. None of Abby's belated tears were meant for Damon, or would have brought him back if she had had a choice.

Abby cleared her throat. "Be that as it may, your… fiancé… is not out of the woods, yet."

"What was that?" Damon asked sharply.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie added.

"I thought you said Bonnie was in the clear," Damon continued.

" _My daughter_ has been vindicated – or will be soon. You, on the other hand… you murdered a Gemini witch. If you had stayed dead, it would have been an eye for an eye and the matter would have been put to rest. But _you didn't stay dead_ …"

It took Bonnie a moment for Abby's words to fully sink in. Then she jumped to her feet. "If they touch him, I will destroy everybody in this coven if it's the last thing I do!"

"Atta girl," Damon laughed, looking completely unperturbed at the idea that the Gemini were after his head.

Abby's face twisted with alarm; and she flicked another baleful glance his way, then turned to her daughter with a warning in her eyes. "If you go against the Gemini coven, you will lose."

"I won't do it alone," Bonnie said. "They have enemies. I met three a few days ago and I'm sure that it's not just the Travellers that have an axe to grind with the Gemini. I can be a very formidable ally."

"BonBon…" Damon said warningly, his hand gripping her elbow. "Magical walls have ears."

Abby's eyes narrowed. "I can't believe I'm saying this but you should listen to your fiancé, Bonnie. The Gemini believe in your innocence now but you're a Bennett: you have too much power to make idle threats."

"Who said anything about idle-"

"With everything that has happened, the Gemini know that you have the potential of becoming a dangerous enemy. If they think _you_ plan on going against them, they'll –"

"What?" Bonnie asked, raising her chin to glare at the other woman. "Pre-emptively kill me?"

Abby shook her head. "Don't think they won't."

"Not if we get them first," Bonnie said smugly. She turned to smile conspiratorially at Damon. "We've fought greater odds in the past, haven't we, Damon?"

He didn't return her smile. He was frowning, and he firmly dragged her back to sit beside him.

"Damon…" she started asking, surprised at his attitude.

He shook his head. "These are the same guys that locked up the heretics in the first place. Killed off half of them when they got out. And that's only recently. These guys have been around BC. The stories about them…" His voice trailed off. "Let's not start something that we can't finish, Bon."

Her jaw dropped. It took her seconds to respond. "Wasn't that my line when you wanted to murder your way through to the airport?" The memory of that morning flashed through her brain and she felt a jolt of irritation. "If you hadn't kept going… Heck, if you hadn't _antagonized_ Mary Louise, maybe we won't be in this mess in the first pl-"

"Can we not do this in front of your _mother_?" he cut in, smiling grimly.

"Who cares what she thinks?" Bonnie retorted, scornfully. "What I care about is why you're not backing me up on this. Is there something you're not telling me, Damon? Or," – another jolt rocked through her but now it was tainted with angry hurt – "is this about…?" She didn't say it out loud, not in front of her mother's disapproving presence, but she knew he understood the question.

Was this about:

Lucy's favour from the Gemini leader?

Breaking the Sleeping Curse?

 _Waking Elena?_

In reply, Damon threw her a look of pure irritation. "You want to know what this is about, _Bonnie_?" he snapped. "Me taking a leaf from _your_ book and thinking things through. If the Gemini wanted me dead, they'd have killed me already. I _think_ they want something from me, from us, and I _think_ that we should hear them out, before we decide to go all David and Goliath on their asses."

Bonnie felt her face flush with embarrassment. He sounded perfectly reasonable. Not for the first time, she had allowed her insecurities colour her judgment.

Hadn't that been what really happened in the car, with Mary Louise? Because the truth was that Bonnie had let Lucy's dig get under her skin – and her reaction to that, her visible hurt and anger at Damon had opened the door for Mary Louise's barb, Damon's predictable barbed defence of her, Bonnie, and the whole disastrous sequence of events that followed.

She looked away from his still irritated gaze. "David won," she muttered.

After a moment, she felt him relax, and his arm went over her shoulder again. "My point exactly," he said cheerfully. "We're an unbeatable team. So before we pound this coven into the ground, let's give them a chance to make us an offer." He looked at Abby expectantly. "Come on, Abby. You've been the one wheeling and dealing all over the place. Surely, you have some idea of what the coven want from us."

This time the look of dislike lingered longer than a flash. Abby's face was practically twisted with hate as she eyed Damon. "There's nothing you have that the Gemini coven or any witch would – should ever want from you, Damon Salvatore. You're a volatile, manipulative, two-faced bastard who has somehow managed to worm his way into my daughter's…." her voice trailed off, as she literally choked with rage.

Bonnie almost jumped to her feet, but Damon dragged her back.

"How dare –"

"It's OK, Bon," he said, his own voice cold and calm as a frozen over lake. "There are no laws stopping the deadbeat mom that abandoned her daughter from playing the disapproving mother-in-law card, are there?" He smiled coldly as Abby's face flushed. "I'd better start getting used to it."

Abby swallowed hard, her eyes bright with anger. Then she visibly forced her composure back.

"I was told to… make this offer to you," she said in clipped tones. "The Gemini won't pursue any kind of retaliation on Damon if … Bonnie…" She coughed, struggling with her next words. Her mouth twisted. "Bonnie, I know you don't give a damn – I know _I've_ done nothing to make you give a damn about me, but I _am begging you_ , you can't make deals with the Gemini coven…" Her composure wavered again.

"We don't have all day," Damon snipped.

"Just spit it out, Abby," Bonnie said wearily.

Abby swallowed again. "The only people who know that Damon is still alive are the people in this room… and the Gemini coven leader. And he suggested… he wants to take advantage of that."

Bonnie and Damon exchanged startled glances. "Take advantage how?" Damon queried.

"By letting everyone believe that Damon is dead. That Bonnie is mourning and vengeful." Unexpectantly, she smiled, but it was bitter, rueful. "Basically, by pretending to everyone in this hotel that you are really going to do everything you threatened to do to the Gemini a few minutes ago – join their enemies, wipe them out."

Bonnie felt her stomach drop.

Damon stared at her, then Abby. "What am I missing?"

"What should be obvious if you understood even half of my daughter's worth. A Bennett witch on the warpath is a formidable enemy – and an invaluable ally to anyone with a common cause. If Bonnie is convincing enough, and word got out that you had the Gemini in your crosshairs, their enemies would be beating down your door. To recruit you."

The bitter smile twisted further and fear creeped into Abby Bennett's eyes.

"Basically, he wants Bonnie to put a target on her back."

* * *

 _Now_

After Abby had given her the Gemini contract – the first of two she would bind herself to within hours – to sign in blood, Bonnie had had to leave Damon. Her mother hadn't stood for a long good-bye and it was more awkwardly than romantic that they had parted. Through a portal that appeared on cue, her mother had taken Bonnie to another prison room, this one decorated in floral patterns. There Bonnie had waited there for a few minutes, steeling herself for a performance that would last the next few days, until Olivia Parker had come to fetch her.

Pretending that the whole conversation with Abby hadn't happened had been easier than Bonnie expected.

Her anger at Micah had been real. So had her vexation with her mother and her cousin. And the reveal that JW – Malachai Parker – was the Gemini leader had come to Bonnie as a complete shock.

Bonnie remembered that 'second' unexpected condition and how much it had thrown her. And Abby, too, unless her mother was an exceptional actress. But why would she have pretended to be surprised? She had told Bonnie not to take it.

But Bonnie hadn't seen how she had any other choice. She would do anything ot keep Damon safe.

As she watched Damon's eyes start fluttering, Bonnie realized that she'd have agreed to it even if it hadn't been necessary to save Damon's life. Heck, she'd have suggested it if had occurred to her first.

The Travellers were ruthless monsters and needed to be stopped. They had made it abundantly clear that they had no scruples when it came to fulfilling whatever mad agenda they had.

And they had a traitor working for – or with them.

The real thief that had stolen the Gemini's Ascendants and smuggled them to the Travellers. The person, Bonnie realized as she thought it through that had been on the other end of that phone conversation with Hans in the motel room. Bonnie frowned, trying to remember the little she had heard of the conversation.

Something about not coming despite the full moon… Expecting Bennett blood from two possible sources – hers and Lucy's apparently…

She felt her fists clenched. She had more than enough reason already to take this personal.

She was working against time. The duration of the _Solemme_ was the ticking clock that would determine how long Hans and Mia would stay trapped in the Prison World with Markos before they broke him out. After that all bets were off. They almost surely had an Ascendant on the Prison World side; and with her Bennett blood and their magic, they could harness the power of whatever recurring celestial event abode in the Prison World and return back.

Unless, there was something Malachai Parker hadn't told them. Knowing the man, that was more likely to be the case than not.

Bonnie scowled, thinking about him. How dare he try to make her out to be some sort of suicidal train-wreck? If he had done his homework, he would have realized that every time she had risked herself, it had been the absolute last resort and there had been higher stakes involved. And she had returned from the 1994 prison world determined to be more careful about protecting herself.

How dare he stand and compartmentalize her in some box and dismiss her? He didn't know anything about her. So what if they had a few awkward encounters where she had been uncharacteristically open to him? She wondered if he had had a good laugh at her expense. All that time he had been deceiving her, making her out as a fool…

A warm mouth pressed against her neck.

"What's got you so riled up?" Damon murmured.

"Nothing," Bonnie said hastily. She tried to sink into his attentions, his teeth and tongue were becoming very interesting – but she realized she was too wound up. Damn JW – Malachai Parker. What a mouthful. Who named a kid Malachai anyway?

Possibly evil, arrogant, allegedly barbaric Gemini witches – that's whom.

"Well, _nothing's_ going to be a distant memory once I'm done…" Damon rumbled, his face now moving towards her breasts.

With a sigh, she shoved him away and sat up. "What time is it?"

He fell back on his elbow and frowned at her. "No idea, why?"

She sighed again and scanned around the room for her jeans. She found it hanging off the bedpost, and – ignoring Damon's remark at that – fetched her phone.

5.30am.

She gulped. "I barely have time for a shower," she muttered, hopping off the bed and quickly gathering her clothes.

Damon didn't have vampire powers in that room – anymore than Bonnie had witch powers – but he still managed to come between her and the bathroom door.

"What's the rush, BonBon? I thought we'd make the most of our time together?"

She laughed in disbelief, tried to sidle past him. "Didn't we? I barely got any sleep last night."

He put his arms up, trapping her. "That's the idea. Call it a pre-wedding honeymoon…" He tried to kiss her and she turned her cheek. She felt him stiffen with angry surprise. "Bon?"

"Damon…" She sighed, knowing that she had to placate him or he'd either keep pushing until she caved or worse – make her regret this later. "Some witch or warlock will be popping in here in a few minutes to spirit me out of this place. In case you haven't noticed, this room doesn't have any doors. I don't want to launch my sex tape on the WitchyNet just yet."

He relaxed. "Why not?" he asked mildly. "You'd make a killing as a pornstar." But he backed off, letting his arms fall.

"Really romantic, Damon. That's what every fiancée wants to hear."

"Hey, I'm complimenting myself!" he said, laughing. "I thought you everything you know. Except for the lesbian sex. Hey, Bon, have you had any second thoughts about that three-"

She slammed the door to his raucous laughter.

She showered ferociously, trying to wash away the sting of his words from her head. It reminded her too much of the nonsense with Mary Louise and with all the balls she was suddenly juggling, she didn't have the mental space to be mad at Damon now.

She was out in under fifteen minutes and started pulling on her old clothes. As she smoothed the creases on Damon's flannel shirt, now with several buttons missing, her mind flashed wistfully to Malachai Parker's sweatshirts and T-shirt folded in her bathroom in the hotel. She wished she had thought to bring them along – or any change of clothing at all, she thought hastily. It suddenly occurred to her that she had received a weird assortment of clothing from that man at different occasions – the 'morning after' change of clothes, and his suit jacket to keep her warm after her abduction. He had never got his jacket back either. If she closed her eyes and thought deeply enough, she could almost smell the mint and incense that was his scent.

Not for the first time, Bonnie shook off musings of JW from her mind – it would be long time before she got his name straight in her head – and focused on the task at hand. She trashed the shirt; and hoped her white tee would be passable. Her hair was an absolute mess and as she re-rolled it into a messy bun, she made a mental note to hit Lucy for that spell, and maybe even a few witchy beauty tips. Lord knew that her cousin owed her that much.

She stepped out of the bathroom with five minutes to spare.

Damon got up from the bed stark naked and gave her a kiss that would have made her toes curl if she wasn't so worried that Malachai Parker would pop into the room at any moment and catch a buttful of her future husband.

"Bye already!" she said with a laugh as she pushed him through the bathroom door and shut it.

She was half-turned from it, when he opened it, yanked her to him, kissed her again, then winked and slammed the door.

Despite herself, she giggled, glad that he was in this mood.

Behind her, someone coughed.

She turned so suddenly, she nearly tripped over her own feet, to stare at Malachai Parker standing at the exact spot he had left the day before. He was dressed in black jeans and a shirt that looked soft enough to sink into. His outfit was almost identical to hers but of course, his was neat and clean and she was clearly about to do a 'walk of shame'. Well, 'portal jump of shame'.

Every. single. time. she met this man, she was always at some disadvantage. It was enough to kill a girl's good mood.

"Good morning to you," she said curtly when he said nothing, merely stared at her with a blank look.

At least it was an upgrade from the perpetual smirk. She wondered how much he'd seen if he was scandalised by her kissing her naked fiancé. What was he, some puritan? There was no way she'd believe a man that looked like he did – that _smirked_ like he did – didn't have an active, risqué sex life. So why did she get the strong feeling that he was emoting disapproval at her?

Or maybe, she thought as she recalled his biting words from earlier, Malachai Parker just disapproved of her having a _vampire_ fiancé to kiss in the first place.

Irritated she walked towards him, then – in defiance – stepped right into his space. "Shall we?" she asked, lifting her chin to stare hard at him.

His eyes widened at her boldness. Heck, she felt surprised at herself – alarmed a little too. Because now that she was this close to him, close enough to feel the heat from his large body, and lock gazes with those dark eyes of his – she felt a frisson of alarm and it was only her pride that stopped her from taking a step back to safety.

Too late anyway. He cocked his head, and his arm was around her waist. "Close your eyes," he said, his first words to her that day.

Bonnie bit hard on her lip, and held herself as stiffly as possible. But then he yanked her towards him and her hands stretched out instinctively to right her balance.

His shirt was as cottony soft as she had imagined.

She yanked her hands back at once, but she felt like the texture of the cloth had burnt into her palms.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. :D Please let me know what you think of this one. :D Will be updating this one for a while. ;)


	15. A Congregation of Witches

**Chapter Fifteen: A Congregation of Witches**

When she opened her eyes, she was standing in his arms, in the empty corridor in front of her room door.

She stepped out of his grasp at once.

"Er… Thanks… for the ride…" she said awkwardly.

He nodded brusquely, his eyes hooded. He made as if to turn on his heel, when the question occurred to her.

"JW, I mean… Parker," she said hesitantly.

He stopped, turned back, to stare at her with one eyebrow raised. "Parker?" he parroted, his tone mocking.

Bonnie reddened. Yeah, it did sound stupid to address formally. They had blown past all that around the time he held her hair back as she threw up in his bathroom.

She took a deep breath. "Malachai then." She was proud of herself for saying the name without stammering. His eyes darkened though, and she hesitated, wondering if she had pissed him off.

"Go on," he said through gritted teeth.

Bonnie blinked. What had she done now? Setting her jaw anyway, she continued. "The witch? The one that Damon… that you would need to resurrect first?" When he just continued to stare silently, Bonnie stammered the question. "H-Have you done so? Where you able to resurrect him?"

His eyes narrowed, and Bonnie could almost feel the weight of his scrutiny.

She was starting to feel defensive. "I just wanted to know…"

"The process has begun," he said abruptly. "I'll let you know of any developments."

His voice was clipped, almost cold.

 _Why_ was he so angry? Because of their almost-quarrel the day before? His disapproval of her relationship with Damon? Was he that much of a bigot?

Bonnie nodded stiffly. "Good… thanks."

His eyes raked her with one last, indecipherable once-over, then without another word, he turned on his heel, and started walking away, apparently deciding to travel the old-fashioned way.

She watched his retreating back, noting that even the line of his shoulders was solemn. It was disquieting, especially compared to his usual cheerful, irreverent disposition.

Then Bonnie frowned inwardly. She barely knew the man. How was she to know what was typical for his moods?

She turned to her door, and keyed it open, but before she stepped in, she threw one last glance over her shoulder.

She caught his gaze as he looked over his. Then he turned the corner and was out of her sight.

Her face burning, her heart beating just a little faster, Bonnie walked into her room.

* * *

Abby had already moved in, and made herself at home. The large Queen bed had been replaced by two small Twins. Bonnie's outfit for the day – a flowery, mostly blue maxi dress that Bonnie did not own – lay on what she supposed was her bed.

Abby herself was already dressed and sitting by the room phone, a journal open on the pillow beside her that she glanced down at from time to time.

She broke her conversation to talk to Bonnie. "Lucy wants to know if she can come over and help you with your hair and getting ready for the day?"

Bonnie didn't even deign to respond to that inane question. Instead she dug through the closet for something to sleep in. She grimaced at the sight of the unfamiliar suitcase on the floor, and the new clothes, all evidence that her mother had made herself at home in her hotel room.

"Bonnie…" Abby sighed. Then she was back on the phone, giving Lucy a more courteous version of Bonnie's response. In a moment, she finished the call and hung up. "Lucy's trying in her own way to apologize. The least you can do is meet her half-way."

Bonnie rejected outfit after outfit in frustration. She had packed for this journey, with the intention of sleeping (or rather _not_ sleeping) with her future husband – and not with her mother. Her selection of night clothes had become suddenly inappropriate.

With a sigh, she selected one of her Damon's tee shirts and a pair of boy-shorts. Only then did she respond to Abby's weak attempt at peace-making.

"Being pissed off at the cousin who dragged me into this mess in the first place is exactly the kind of attitude that I should be having right now," she muttered as she changed. "Besides, what happened to being mad at Lucy for getting me involved in Gemini business?"

"I am still mad at her," Abby replied immediately. "But we talked for hours yesterday after we got back about you-"

Bonnie tensed. "Did you tell her about our plan with Malach- the Gemini leader?"

"No. That remains between us three. The fewer people know, the safer the secret, the safer you are. Lucy and I talked about other things. Her debt to the Gemini… bringing you here… I didn't approve of her methods – I still don't. I can never be happy about her involving you with the Gemini for _any reason_. Yet…" She paused.

Despite herself, Bonnie tensed. "What?"

"Her heart was in the right place," Abby said slowly. "In her own way, she was trying to protect you. Trying to prevent you from making a horrible mistake."

"The mistake being my marriage to Damon, right?" Bonnie snapped.

Abby merely stared at her.

"I know you don't think that he loves me more than Elena… you don't think that he'd choose me if actually given the choice between the both of us… you don't think that _anyone_ would choose me…" Her voice broke.

Abby's eyes swam with tears. "Bonnie…"

Bonnie looked away from her mother, blinking rapidly as she roughly shoved the dress on her bed aside and slipped under the covers. "I'm stuck with you until the duration of this… mission for the Gemini and I can get Damon back. But that does not, under any circumstances give you the right to 'mother' me, or 'connect' with me, or pretend that we have the kind of relationship where I want or care about your opinions about my personal life. And-" her voice rose, drowning Abby's inarticulate protest –"if you attempt to do any of the above, then so help me, I will throw you out of my room, out of my life, and wing it for the rest of the way. And _if_ I end up losing Damon because you can't respect me enough to stay the hell out of my business-"

"Bonnie," Abby said curtly. "I think you've said enough."

Bonnie felt silent. She was lying on her back, staring unseeingly at the wall but she could still feel Abby's angry gaze on the side of her face.

"Just so we're clear," Bonnie said after a long, tense silence.

"Just so," Abby said crisply. Out of the corner of her eye, Bonnie saw her mother rise to her feet, and start walking towards the bathroom.

Bonnie stopped her with a question. "Stefan and the others - I haven't heard from them. Did you get them sorted out or should I expect a surprise from that quarter?"

"I said I'd handle it, didn't I? I did."

"How? What's the story if I hear from any of them?"

"You won't." It was evident from Abby's tone that that was all she was going to say on that. Bonnie decided not to push it. "You have a few hours to sleep. Then there's a busy day before us. There are ceremonies to attend, amongst many other events."

"Awesome."

There was another tense silence.

Abby broke it again. "When I moved in last night, I did a magical scan of the room. It popped a pair of eavesdropping spells."

Bonnie turned her head to gaze up at her mother. "What? From whom?"

"No magical signatures so I couldn't trace them. They were light spells, just mild enough to be over-looked by anyone who wasn't actively watching out for them. The casters must be people in this hotel. The spells won't have extended very far."

"There are hundreds of people in this hotel!"

"Exactly. Rumours of what happened between you, Damon and the Gemini are spreading fast and there are already people who are eager to take advantage of that."

"I'm the bait," Bonnie whispered, "and the fish are swimming close."

Her mother looked pained. "That is a horrible analogy."

Bonnie laughed dryly. "Don't worry, Abby. The Gemini will reel me in, the moment I get bitten." She laughed again when her mother's face twisted further. "I know… I know… Never trust the Gemini." A curious thought, one that had been bugging her for some time now, flashed through her head. "Abby, why do you hate Malachai Parker?"

Shutters fell across her mother's face. "Get some rest, Bonnie." And before Bonnie could reply, she had slipped into the bathroom.

* * *

Abby ended up doing her hair. Bonnie stared at her own image, sitting patiently at her dresser as her mother stood above her, doing magic with her strands. She swallowed hard against the lump that rose in her throat.

She was twenty-five years old, years out of college with a good paying job, and a soon-to-be-husband. She had battled monsters and won. She had battled death itself, and won many times over.

She was not a sentimental little girl, on the verge of tears because her dead-beat mom was doing her hair.

The blue sundress fit like a glove so Bonnie left it on. Abby wore something more formal, more befitting of her age but in the same general colour and style. The sight of the two of them, standing side by side in the glass almost made another lump rise in Bonnie's throat and she quickly moved away.

"So what's the day's agenda?" she asked briskly as she filled up her purse. "The sooner I find the spy amongst the Gemini, the sooner this will all be over."

* * *

According to Abby, the first event was a _Contio de Veneficas –_ an assembly of witches. Each type of supernaturals would have separate assemblies with members of the Gemini ruling family during the course of the day. The way Abby described it, it seemed more of a social event than a formal ceremony.

There was another portal in the casino room and once again, Bonnie found herself at the steps of the Gemini's cathedral-like edifice amongst a crowd of supernaturals.

This time around, she was less one fiancé, less one annoying presence of Lucy Bennett, but in exchange for that, she felt the heavy gaze of dozens of curious witches glancing her way.

"Don't be nervous," Abby whispered.

"I'm not," Bonnie retorted through a thin smile as she glared down a huddle of young women staring at her. They looked away quickly.

Abby said nothing and then the bells were tolling. The two women followed the crowd up the steps to the large ornate doors that were flung wide open. Standing on either side of the door was a tall, dark-robed Gemini witch. One, an unfamiliar Asian woman about her mother's age, but the second was very familiar. Unpleasantly so.

Bonnie took a deep, steadying breath at the sight of Micah Parker.

The two Gemini witches murmured welcomes to the guests as they passed through. When Bonnie drifted close, Micah locked eyes with her and her smile went from something pasted on and automatic, to an icy grin.

Bonnie returned it with measure.

The guests stepped into a large cavernous hall, with a high glass ceiling through which Bonnie could see the clear mid-day sky up ahead. The hall was dotted with round tables, with placenames clearly labelled. Young black-robed Gemini witches served as ushers, helping each person find their place.

Bonnie was surprised to realize that she and Abby were being seated separately.

She hesitated in front of her seat, and shot Abby a wary glance.

"It's expected."

Bonnie started at the _un_ expected voice of her cousin at her side. She turned to frown at Lucy, who was dressed in cream and purple, and then turned her back firmly to the older girl.

Lucy went on as if she didn't realize she was being pointedly ignored. "This is more of a meet-and-greet than anything else so the covens, circles, and – for witches who have neither – families and friends are split up so that we're all forced to mingle. We're all in different tables, you, Abby and I." She glanced at the name besides Bonnie, and chuckled softly. "Well… this will be interesting."

Despite herself, Bonnie followed her cousin's gaze, then she scowled deeply. "Is this for real?"

"Nice to know the Gemini have a sense of humour. Will you be OK?" she asked, her voice becoming serious.

Bonnie ignored her, and took a seat.

Lucy sniffed. "It's not like if he's dead for good, you know."

"Much to your disappointment, I'm sure," Bonnie snapped.

"You can't blame me for what happened, Bonnie. I didn't ask Damon to go berserk on the-"

"Shush," Abby said abruptly. A few witches had taken their seats at Bonnie's table and were now eyeing the Bennetts with avid curiosity. "Bonnie, will you be fine?"

"Just go already," Bonnie muttered through a thin smile as she stared down at the witches across the table. They quickly looked away.

To her relief, Abby and Lucy shuffled off. Bonnie eyed the empty space beside her warily and contemplated doing a quick switch before anyone noticed.

She was just about to reach for the tag, when a shadow fell over her and a hand pulled out the chair.

"Interesting," Freya Michaelson said in her clipped, formal tones as she sat down beside Bonnie.

Bonnie reached for the wine flute on her table and took a long drag. She needed it.

* * *

The ceremony started shortly after. Strangely enough, Micah Parker presided. There was no sign of any of the other Parkers – something that gave Bonnie a strange sense of relief.

Micah Parker stood on a dais in the centre of the hall and casted spells of protection and friendship and alliance. Bonnie said her piece with the rest of the guests, and felt the enchantments take shape across the ceiling, bathing the hall with hues of rainbow colours before it vanished.

It was all very pretty but considering recent events, Bonnie wondered just how binding any of it was.

After all the Travellers had a spy amongst at least one of the Gemini guests that were now swearing allegiance and amiability to the coven. Either these spells were not strong enough or they were just for show.

Or, she realized cynically, these spells served as the magical equivalent of oath-taking. Until you actually said the words, you weren't obligated to say the truth. Afterwards, any lie you spoke was perjury and an actionable crime.

She was beginning to see why her mother was so distrustful about the Gemini.

After the magical ceremonies, the food came, with even more wine, and Bonnie tucked in with gusto. Her breakfast had been a cup of coffee and half a bagel. Around her, conversation picked up.

"You'd think that Malachai would be the one to preside over the Witches' Congregation," muttered the elderly old woman that sat on Bonnie's left. "That boy has no respect whatsoever."

"Perhaps he's deferring to Micah because she's done this so many times in the past," drawled a young, spiky-haired man a few years younger than Bonnie.

The woman sniffed. "He can't pick and choose what he wants to defer to Micah. Either he's the leader or he's not. This delegating nonsense is just confusing."

"Strange how no one complained about Joshua delegating control to Micah," the young man continued. "Looks like the real problem is with Kai, no matter what he does."

"Kai?" Bonnie ventured.

"Malachai Parker," the man explained. He gave Bonnie a knowing look. "This is your first _Sollemne_ , right? You Bennetts as a general rule don't show up for these things."

"That is right," Bonnie said warily.

"How are you enjoying yourself so far?"

She felt probing eyes on her again, but this time, now that she had joined the conversation, they were bolder as if they had now been given permission to gawk.

"It could be better," she said curtly.

"I heard…" He threw a glance at the others. "There've been rumours… about your vampire companion?"

"If you mean my fiancé, Damon Salvatore? The man I was planning to spend my life with?" Bonnie asked coolly.

The man gulped and nodded.

"They're not rumours. The Gemini killed him."

There was a collective gasp.

And it wasn't just her table. From the corner of her eyes as Bonnie methodically ate her meal, she noticed that the guests at the nearby tables were also watching on rapt attention and had heard her.

All except for one.

Freya Michaelson herself had remained silent all this while, all her attention apparently on the meal before her. Bonnie was overwhelmingly conscious of the woman's presence though. It was impossible not to. It was remarkable how much she resembled her younger brother.

Around Bonnie, people started murmuring awkward condolences.

"There's nothing for _you_ to be sorry about," Bonnie said frostily, the implication clear in her voice.

The curious gazes turned alarmed.

A young woman asked Bonnie. "From what I heard your fiancé killed a Gemini witch." When Bonnie glared at her, she coughed. "I also heard it was in self-defence, wrongful arrest…" She trailed off, her eyes almost bulging with curiosity.

Spiky Hair chipped in. "The rumours also said there's a chance he's still alive… in limbo… there's a chance he can return before the end of the _Sollemne_ …"

"It was," Bonnie said curtly, "a wrongful arrest. It was self-defence. And yes, I hope he returns to me otherwise some people will be sorry that it happened in the first place."

A long silence followed. Now everyone in the hall – with the same one exception – was staring at her as if she had two heads while she calmly continued eating.

Micah Parker, sitting the dais with a Gemini witch flanking her on either side, stared straight at Bonnie, her face hard and furious.

Old Lady cleared her throat and finally said, "my dear, if you feel you can't continue to stay on during the _Sollemne_ , I'm sure the Gemini will understand…"

"Thank you so much," Bonnie said with a fake, dangerous smile and it was all she could do not to laugh at the frightened look on the woman's face, "but I have some unfinished business here."

She was almost enjoying herself, playing this part.

For the first time since she took her seat, Freya Michaelson raised her head and gave Bonnie a piercing, calculating look.

* * *

After the food was cleared, a group of Gemini witches took the dais and started executing a complicated series of spells that apparently caused a show of lightning and thunder in the skies above. It was impressive, and Bonnie wasn't pretending when she oohed and aahed with everyone else.

"The longer it takes to recover Damon from limbo, the less likely you ever will find him," said a voice to her right.

Bonnie turned her head to stare in Freya Michaelson's dark gaze.

"I should know," Freya continued. "I searched for years for Kol before I finally gave up."

"Good to know," Bonnie snapped.

"The only thing that would amuse me more than watching you wait in vain for your vampire lover to return to you, is to watch you destroy yourself trying to avenge his death when he doesn't."

She gave Bonnie a poisonous smile and took a sip of her wine, her attention back to the show overhead.

Bonnie took a deep, steadying breath to calm herself while she racked her brain for what to say. It was hard to sift through instinctive anger at Freya's blatant hatred to Damon, and what Bonnie's reaction ought to be according to the role she was play-acting.

It took a long time before she spoke again.

"Damon died trying to save my life. Kol died after he murdered your family. If you cannot see the difference between those two then…"

Freya turned on her so quickly that Bonnie recoiled. "He turned against his family because _you broke him_ ," she hissed. "He had changed and he was trying to do better, to _be_ better. You locked him back up in a Prison World with a dozen hungry heretics and threw away the key."

The memories of past horror rose up in Bonnie's head and threatened to overwhelm her. She clawed herself out of it, and managed to spit back at Freya. "Your precious brother stabbed me, abandoned me in 1994 and left me there to rot. I almost killed myself because of him…"

"He. saved. your. life. The only reason why you are alive here and now, Bonnie Bennett is because of the man whose life you destroyed. Think about that while you dream and pine for Damon Salvatore, a man whose hands are drenched with the blood of innocents including those of _your own family_."

And with that, Freya got to her feet. Inquisitive eyes stared at her but she ignored them, walking rapidly away. A Gemini usher approached her, and the two disappeared into the darkness of the hall.

Leaving Bonnie alone on her seat, staring blankly at nothing while her mind churned in confusion.

* * *

The event was over, and the witches were gathered on the grounds, waiting for the portal to be set up. Bonnie stood by herself, arms clasped loosely around her handbag to her front, and a look on her face that defied anyone to approach her. People threw her curious, wary glances, but the few that had dared make any overtures into conversation, had soon retired after she had given one too many acerbic monotonous comebacks. Lucy had taken one look at her, and made a beeline to the other side of the gathering. Abby kept glancing at her from where she stood, talking with Micah Parker but she clearly couldn't get out of the tense discussion they were having.

"You're supposed to entice the traitors to you, not scare them off."

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the warm voice at her neck. She whirled around to see Malachai Parker, standing with his hands deep in the pockets of his suit, casually surveying the crowd in front of them.

"What are you doing…?"

"Wrapped up my meet and mix early. Decided to check on the _Contio._ " His eyes slanted at her. "Check on you."

Her face felt hot, and she clasped her bag tightly, trying desperately to recollect her earlier composition. "How am I supposed to entice traitors if they see me chit-chatting with the Gemini leader?" she said through gritted teeth, looking straight ahead.

"I casted a little glamour over us. As far as most can see, you're standing by yourself, resting bitch-face slash you-do-not-want-to-fuck-with-me mode activated." He snickered softly at the unwilling smile that broke across her face. "My family can see me and are probably wondering what's going on. But Micah wondering what's wrong with me is nothing new so…"

He said the last bit mockingly enough, but there was a hint of bitterness there that surprised her.

His mood had changed from that morning, the strange anger simmering in him seemed to have dialed back to his former casual irreverence.

"Any leads yet?"

She told him an abridged version of her conversation with Freya Mikaelson. "It's probably hard to understand without the back-story…" she finished, uncertainly.

"You mean the one where you figuratively and literally stabbed Kol Mikaelson through the back of his chest?" Once again, there was a dark undercurrent beneath the apparent glibness of his words. "Pretty much wicca folklore now."

"I only did to him what he had done to me, and worse," Bonnie snapped, furious.

"Really?"

Her temper flared. "Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about."

She made to walk away but his hand wrapped around her elbow, spinning her around to face him. She would have given him a hard kick for that if not for the chargethat seemed to flash from his palm to her skin. She stared in shock at his eyes, which had gone impossibly dark.

For a moment, she felt like if she was falling into those dark, grey pools.

Then the moment passed, and she yanked out of his branding grip.

"Let go," she snapped, a few seconds too later.

He swallowed hard. His composure seemed as shot as hers.

Finally he took a step back, his hands raised. "I'm sorry. Again. I, of all people, should know that there are always two sides to a story."

She, too, took a step back and now there was almost a meter across from them. A small part of her mind wondered how that affected his illusion spell, but she couldn't bring herself to care just that moment.

"Forget it. Let's just stick to our arrangement, and we'll be fine," she said at last.

His lips thinned. "I still think this plan is–"

"Don't say it!" Bonnie snapped.

He sighed. "Say what? 'Do less dangerous things, Bonnie?'" He drawled her name, smirking over the word and something dark and dangerous rose up in Bonnie.

She told herself it was anger.

"From what I hear about you, you clearly didn't hear that enough."

"What the heck did you hear about me?" she asked furiously.

"That getting involved in dangerous things to save everyone else is nothing new. I'm curious though. How do you carry it around anyway? I'd be bent over from the weight."

"What?" Bonnie snapped, knowing she was setting herself up but unable to stop herself from asking.

"That hero complex of yours, sweetheart."

" _I don't have_ -"

"My point exactly. You're such a self-sacrificing martyr that you can't even see it. And no," he said over her attempt to protest, "I didn't get all that from drunken confessions – although I did get a lot. I've done my homework on you and your adventures in Mystic Falls. Seems to me that town would have been destroyed ten times over, and your fiancé would have been dead ages ago if not for you – nine times out of ten at the expense of your own neck. Heck, I witnessed it first hand at the motel room, when you were so hell-bent on chasing after the Travellers that you ignored the fact that you were bleeding to death. "

It was the oddest thing, Bonnie thought, glaring up at him. There was a compliment somewhere in what he was saying, but he ground out his words with such derision that she knew he was insulting her.

"I like helping people," she snapped. "I have all this power, and it comes with as much responsibility."

"I'm sure even Uncle Ben understood the difference between helping people and dying for people."

For a moment, Bonnie was so furious, she'd have hexed him if her magic was being smothered. And if the look in his dark gaze was anything to go by, he was just as mad. They had come closer as they talked without realising it, and now her face was just inches from him.

"You are a coven leader," she hissed. "You, of all people, should understand looking after your own…"

"It goes both ways, Bon. Heck, it's a rule of nature."

"Don't call me–"

"Or were you too busy saving the world in high school to pay attention in Biology class? A relationship that isn't symbiotic is parasitic. You're an infested host, Bonnie Bennett, badly in need of an exterminator."

Her eyebrows were so high, they had probably disappeared into her hairline at this rate. "Are you volunteering?" she mocked.

He was so close, that she could feel his breath over her face. "Depends… on what you're willing to pay…"

By now his eyes were so dark, they were practically black. And even though they were not touching, the scant inches of air between their faces was charged. Bonnie could feel little sparks bursting against her skin everytime he spoke, and his breath touched her.

She lifted her chin – in defiance, she told herself, even as his face came nearer…

The large peal of a bell, made them spring apart.

 _What the fuck?_

"Portal's up," Malachai said, his voice casual like if nothing had happened. But a tight glance at his flushed face, and Bonnie knew that he felt anything but casual.

Her own face was also flushed; her entire body was flushed, in fact, and her heart was beating faster than a humming bird's. And she stood with her back to him, quickly, her face forward, trying desperately to collect her composure.

"Micah must be going crazy trying to figure out what I'm up to." He was back to breathing down her neck, his breath making goosebumps break across her skin.

"You need to _leave_ ," she snapped. "And take off your illusion. Abby is wondering why I'm just standing here."

Frankly, Bonnie didn't know that. She could barely make out Abby from the crowd. She could barely concentrate on anything but Malachai Parker's warm presence at her back.

He chuckled softly. "Gotcha." Beat. "The offer's on the table… anytime you want to take me up on it."

Bonnie let out a strangled gasp.

Then her back felt cold and she knew he had gone. A moment later, she was staring at her mother's concerned face.

"Are you OK, Bonnie?" Abby asked.

"Of course," Bonnie said quickly, and started moving with the crowd towards the portal.

"Your face is burning… are you coming down with something?"

"What did I say about the 'mothering'?" She didn't mean to be cruel. She just needed Abby to shut up.

It worked. Her mother didn't say another word to her for hours.

Great. Just another thing to worry about between the down-time she had plotting to entrap a traitor, and trying not to think about her disturbing reaction to the Gemini coven leader.

* * *

 **AN:** *sniffs* Abby.

As always thanks for the feedback!


	16. No One's Pawn

**Chapter Sixteen: No One's Pawn**

Bonnie was back where she was what seemed like eons ago but was really just a few nights. The bar at the game room. It was the same bartender even, and she took one look at Bonnie's face and poured her a shot.

It was mostly empty but for a few werewolves playing pool. They gave Bonnie the usual set of interested looks, but stayed away.

She was halfway through her drink when a familiar presence filled the seat next to hers.

"Fancy meeting you here."

Bonnie gave Jeremy a small smile. "Hey, Jer."

As he ordered his drink, she asked. "So when are the Hunters meeting with the Gemini today?"

"We did ours the exact same time that the witches had their _Contio_."

"Where?"

"Same place. The Cathedral, right? Where we had the first ceremony?"

"How's that possible?" Bonnie mused.

Jeremy chuckled. "You're the witch, not me. So which of the Parkers officiated your _Contio_?"

"Micah Parker." Bonnie all but spat out the word.

Jeremy glanced at her quickly, his eyes missing nothing but all he said was: "We got the great leader himself. Kai Parker. Hey, you OK?"

Bonnie hastily grabbed paper towels to mop up the drink that she had spilled on the table. The bartender glanced over, tut-tutted and vanished the mess with a silent spell.

"Clumsy me. Thanks," Bonnie muttered as the woman replaced her shot. She nodded at Jeremy. "Go on. You had a _Contio_ with M-Malachai?"

He went on, clearly oblivious, to Bonnie's relief. "We did. So that wasn't too bad. The rest of the Parkers, Gemini in general, are … so-so where other supernaturals are concerned. I don't want to use the word _elitist_ but…"

"… if the shoe fits," Bonnie completed. She bit her lip, struggling against her next question then made up her mind. It was completely natural for her to ask, to want to know more about this coven and its leader. "So Malachai's different from the other Gemini? In a good way different?"

"Yep, he's more down to earth. More practical. Less talk, and more do. We've worked together lots of times in the past. Never afraid to get his hands dirty." He chuckled as he drained his drink. "He generally goes by Kai, you know."

She remembered something. "You know the Gemini leader pretty well, don't you? I remember you saying something that first night about the NOLA covens making an appearance and someone called Kai being pleased."

"Yep, that was all Kai. A lot of covens had been drifting away under the former leadership. The old guy was a bit too old-school, too isolationist. This _Sollemne_ , for example, hadn't been held in years. Kai changed all that when he became the leader. Or returned as leader, depending on who you ask." Jeremy chuckled again. "Never quite got the story straight."

"What story?" she prodded.

The bartender gave Jeremy another shot and he took it, throwing Bonnie a surprised glance. "I'm surprised that Lucy or your mother didn't fill you on it. Lucy probably knows more about the Gemini than most of us do. She's worked with them for years, even when Micah Parker was in charge. Then your mother was, I think, part of the coven a long time ago…"

She gasped. "Abby was a member of the Gemini coven?!"

"Not really a member," Jeremy corrected. "Sort of like a close ally, as near to the inner circle as a non-Gemini could be. And so was your grandmother, Sheila."

"How come I don't know any of this?"

Jeremy shrugged. "Beats me."

She frowned into her glass, her mind racing. Lucy and her precious favour that was 'such a big deal'. Abby and her weird feud with Malachai Parker… Bonnie felt like if she was unravelling a gigantic onion. Mystery within mystery within mystery.

She was silent for a long time, deep in her own thoughts, but after a while she noticed Jeremy's curious glances.

She turned to him with an inquiring look.

He gave her a pointed stare. "What's the plan, Bonnie?"

She blinked. "Probably get wasted before the shindig this evening. My cousin knows some brilliant hangover spells that will kick in long before I need to make myself respectable."

He scoffed. "Don't even bother trying to pretend, Bonnie. I know you're up to something. I've heard the rumours, too. Only they're not rumours, are they?"

She hedged. "Depends. What did you hear?"

"The Gemini lost something or they were robbed of something. No one's quite sure _what_. But for some stupid reason, they suspected you. There was a fight and Damon killed Ezra Martin and got his heart ripped out."

Ezra Martin. That was the name of the dead Gemini warlock. Bonnie felt strange, realizing that until now she hadn't even known his name. Hadn't, to be honest, even been interested in knowing.

Her mind flashed back to that morning, and Malachai's cold anger.

Was that what had pissed him off? That her concern for the dead warlock had only been to the extent that it affected her fiancé, a vampire to boot?

She felt her face burn with shame, and she took a long sip of her drink to hide it. "Your sources are impeccable. I love the little details about my fiancé's last moments of life."

"Only he's coming back, isn't he?" Jeremy scoffed again. "Does anyone ever stay dead around here? So I don't know why you're moping at the bar in the middle of the afternoon when you could be outside, sight-seeing Portland. This is your first visit here, right?"

"I don't know why you think that hitting on me less than forty-eight hours after I watched my fiancé die is anything less than absolutely tacky."

"Hitting on you? I'm trying to cheer you up. If I remember right, you're the one who threw herself on me." His laughter sounded forced.

Bonnie winced. "Don't remind me." Thoughts of that night went quickly from her drunken proposition to Jeremy, to her drunken encounter with JW – Malachai Parker – Kai Parker.

She wondered why he had never invited her to address him by the diminutive. Kai sounded better than Malachai. The latter made him sound like someone unapproachable. Unapproachable and probably evil.

The former made him sound like someone she might have bumped into when she was in college. With his lean, toned body, she might have first placed him as a jock but after spending a little while with him, she'd have picked up on his irreverent, almost casual intelligence. The way his eyes were either full of mischief, or grave, almost haughty as they had been that morning.

Not a jock, then. Not even a student. A young Professor. Wasn't he even supposed to be Micah's older brother? Although with those looks, he'd have had a devil of a time managing his female students…

 _"The offer's on the table… anytime you want to take me up on it."_

Had he been hitting on her?

"Earth to Bonnie."

She started, surprised at how immersed she had been in her thoughts. She felt her face flush as Jeremy stared at her.

"How much have you already had?"

"Back off, Jer. I was thinking, that's all." She tried to remember what they had been talking about and when she did, she sighed. "Damon _might_ come back. _Might._ There's absolutely no guarantee that…" Her voice trailed off.

A part of her hated this. Hated lying to Jeremy. He had always been the one person she could always be completely honest with, even about things that she hadn't felt comfortable enough sharing with Caroline and Elena.

But if this plan of Abby's and Mal- Kai Parker's were to work, then Bonnie would need to keep her cover at all times. With everyone.

"Damon might not come back," she said softly.

Jeremy's eyebrows shot up. "Hey, look here, Bon-"

"Not that he _can't_ but it depends on if… this witch… the one Damon er…"

"The warlock Damon killed? Ezra Martin."

"Yes. Him. If the Gemini can't bring him back, then they won't bring back Damon. Damon might not come back," she repeated.

A heavy conflicted silence followed.

"I don't suppose there's any point in me telling you to walk away from all this," Jeremy said quietly.

Even though it was all playacting, anger flashed through Bonnie. "No," she said harshly.

Jeremy took a deep breath. "Fine. Then I'm in."

She looked up in surprise. His eyes were solemn and intense.

"What?"

"Whatever you're planning, I'm in. I'll help."

His words were the opposite of what Bonnie expected and she felt confused gratitude flush through her. "I… I am not planning anything. And even if I were… You don't have to help, Jeremy."

" _You_ don't have to do anything at all," he retorted. "So if you're doing this, so am I. You're not going to go up against the Gemini by yourself. And," he continued, over-riding her protests, "I'm not the little boy you lock up in the house and go off to fight battles any more. You're not pushing me out of this one."

Bonnie half-laughed, and shook her head ruefully. If only he knew. "OK, then. _If_ I come up with something, _if_ I need to, I'll let you know."

"Deal." He clinked his glass with hers.

For a moment, they sat in companionable silence, watching the werewolves play. Bonnie's thoughts were far away though, sifting through the events of the past few days. So many things had happened. And she was still waiting for even more things. Waiting to see if the performance she had given this morning of an angry irrational Bennett just waiting to explode on the Gemini would lure in the person who was plotting with the Travellers. Waiting to see if Ezra Martin was going to be resurrected.

Waiting, even, to see if Kai Parker could break the Curse between her and Elena.

 _That_ should never be far from her mind. It was, after all, the entire reason she was here in the first place.

Her mind went even further back. All the way back to five years ago when Kol Michaelson placed the curse on her.

"You and Kol Michaelson spent a lot of time together in Denver?" she asked Jeremy.

He started at that. Her question must have seemed to him completely apropos of nothing. "You mean that time when Elena made Damon compel away my memories and sent me to Denver to be 'safe'? That time when you knew about it but played along?" He grimaced.

Bonnie face-palmed. "Really, Jer?"

"Only for Klaus to send Kol to 'safe' Denver, to watch over me and kill me if you didn't co-operate with them?"

"Yeah, Jeremy. _That_ time."

"Just checking." Beat. "Why do you ask?"

"Tell me about him."

"About _Kol_?" He asked, clearly nonplussed. "What would I know? I mean when I met him I thought he was a normal guy, a big baseball jock. He had an impressive rare football card collection. And the weirdest taste in music." Jeremy almost looked fond, remembering. Then he scowled. "But that was all an act."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, Klaus asked him to keep an eye on you. He didn't have to be friends with you to do that."

"He did it to be extra-diabolical."

A memory flickered through Bonnie's thoughts. Sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner with Kol Michaelson. Being lured into a false sense of security.

Being gutted as he smiled down at her.

Extra-diabolical, indeed.

Jeremy sighed. "Well who knows, really? One moment, I thought the guy was the best friend I never had. A few months later, he was threatening to rip off both my arms to stop me from finishing the map to the Cure. If you hadn't arrived in the nick of time…"

"But I didn't," Bonnie corrected him. "I got there in time to save both of you from _Klaus_. But I didn't get there in the nick of time to save you from Kol. It was Elena that killed him." Something like wonder seemed to descend on her. " _It was Elena that killed Kol_."

"Yeah. He'd been out to get her for a long time."

Bonnie blinked back sudden tears, and tried to look away but Jeremy was too quick. His arm went around her shoulders. "Bonnie? Are you OK?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm…" She coughed hard against the sudden lump in her throat, and leaned into him gratefully. "I'm fine. Just… remembering… realizing. For a long time, I thought it was just because of me that he cursed Elena. Well, me and Damon since we both came up with the plan to trap him in 1903. But really just… _me_. Because of his …" She waved her hand expressively as she struggled to control the rising blush in her face. "… his obsession with me."

Jeremy snorted softly. "Obsession? Crush? Thing for you? Whatever it was, he had it bad. In his own sick, twisted way. Not that I blame him." He said the last quietly, so softly that she barely even registered it.

She was too busy thinking of that kitchen in 1994. Strong arms trapping her body as their fingers laced together, tracing over the map to coax a tracking spell to give up the location of a heavily shielded Ascendant. The thump of his heart beating against her back. His magic – strong, old – mingling with hers. Her own heart beating faster than a drum as she felt her body and mind being swept up by it all.

She told herself later that what had followed had been the result of the magical high; she hadn't been thinking straight.

Then it happened again, and again, and she ran out of excuses.

She came to regret it, though. It and everything else that had followed.

"I told him I never wanted to see his face again. Lord knows I had seen enough of it in almost two years. If he had only left me alone when I got back from 1994, I won't have had to lock him up," Bonnie said wearily. "He should have gone back to New Orleans, to his family. All the time I was anchor, and then later in 1994, he kept going on and on about how he'd return to his family, force the Cure down their throats, and give them a gruesome death. If he had just stuck to that, and not tried to … I dunno… _court_ me or whatever twisted game he had in mind… I won't have had to lock him up, and everything that followed would have been prevented."

"Yeah well, if he hadn't been hung up on you, he'd probably not have helped save you from dying in the first place."

It took long moments for her to understand his words. Then she turned her head slowly to stare at him, shifting so his arm slipped off her shoulders.

He was mid-sip and he halted, looking at her with surprise. "What?"

"What do you mean by Kol saving me? How did Kol ever save me?" Because Freya Michaelson had said the same thing. And long before that, hadn't Elena once tried to say something like this? The day that they had all returned from 1903 and Bonnie told her what she did to Kol?

Bonnie had never thought too hard about it, had always vaguely reasoned that it had something to do with Silas, and Kol's – in retrospect, rightful – warnings about going after the Cure. But Kol actually saving her life… When had that ever happen?

Jeremy was staring at her with a dazed expression on his face. "Didn't anyone ever tell you what happened on your birthday in 1994?"

* * *

 _May 10, 1994_

 _Her head was heavy with smoke. It had seeped through her pores and now it dragged her down like weights._

 _She wasn't going to be able to make it out of the garage._

 _She had spent hours preparing, days really, maybe even months. But now that she was seconds from dying – she knew for certain._

 _She didn't want to die._

 _But she was going to, anyway._

 _The tears that had been pouring down her cheeks all day had stopped. It was with dry, heavy eyes, and bitterness in her mouth that she was going to end her life._

 _She started closing her eyes… her lids were to heavy… only for brightness to fill her vision. Her lids flew open to the sight of white light… sky…_

 _Clean air rushed so sharply into her lungs that it almost choked her._

 _It took a long moment for her to realize that the garage door was open. Standing in the light was a tall, dark figure, a heart-wrenchingly familiar face._

 _Jeremy?_

 _Then he vanished, and Bonnie was alone in the garage, gasping greedily for the life she had almost thrown away._

* * *

She shook her head slowly, letting the memory slip away. Beside her, Jeremy's wide eyes were on her, his face creased with worry.

"Bonnie are you OK?"

She swallowed. "What?"

He squeezed her shoulders, and she started, realising she hadn't even noticed when he grabbed her. "You completely spaced out on me for a moment."

She shrugged him off, ignored the flash of hurt on his face. "I'm fine. Sorry. Just got lost in…"

"I shouldn't have brought it up," he said, cutting her off. "I'm sorry."

She blinked, her head starting to spin. "Brought up…"

He shifted awkwardly. "Your birthday… you know…"

He was talking about her attempted suicide, Bonnie realized with mounting shock.

 _But that's not possible. No one knew about that. No one knew!_

"Jeremy, what happened on my…" But even as she started the question, she backed off, her head pounding a warning.

 _Don't go there, BonBon. You don't want to know. Let the past stay buried in the past…_

"What happened when?"

"Nothing," she said. With a quick smile, she drained her glass and hopped off the barstool. "Catch you later, Jer. There's someone I need to see."

Jeremy downed his drink in a gulp and stood up, too. "I'm coming with. We just made a deal."

Bonnie paused, eying him critically. Of course, when she clinked glasses with him, she'd she had no intention of letting him on the real deal between her and Abby and Kai Parker – and even if she did, there was no telling how magical contracts worked. Her spilling the beans to Jeremy might mean voiding the contract.

But she was used to working with someone – Damon, mostly, but even Enzo back in the day and of course, Caroline and Matt had never been more than a phone call away when she needed someone by her side when going into battle. She hadn't ever really worked with Jeremy – she had sheltered him more often than not. But he was a Hunter now, capable, strong, super-reflexes. He would definitely come in useful.

Because Jeremy was right. Bonnie did have a plan. Of course, she had no intention of jeopardizing the deal to keep Damon safe. But neither was she going to just be a mere pawn for the Gemini, a sitting duck waiting for an arrow to strike.

Nope. Bonnie Bennett was taking matters into her own hands.

"Don't slow me down then," she said curtly.

He chuckled and followed her out of the game room.

* * *

Jeremy proved his worth right out the gate. A few quick calls to his fellow Hunters as they walked back to the rooms, and he found Bonnie the location of her intended target. One wardrobe change and they'd be good to go.

They stopped at Bonnie's room first. Abby wasn't in. She had left a note that she would be over at Lucy's. Bonnie quickly changed while Jeremy waited outside, just relieved to avoid the confrontation. Their ugly parting that morning aside, Bonnie knew Abby probably won't approve of her actions and she didn't need her mother on her case.

Their next stop was at Jeremy's and he insisted that she come in, while he changed in his bathroom.

"You never told me what happened to you that night after you left here," he said from behind the slightly open bathroom door.

Bonnie groaned, remembering her _faux pas_ from her very first night in this hotel. Who knew that hitting on Jeremy was going to be the least embarrassing thing that she did in such a short space of time? Her face burned as she remembered throwing up in the bathroom while the _freaking_ Gemini leader held her hair back, mocking her so much that she _almost_ threw up on his feet.

Thank goodness for small mercies.

"Nothing I care to repeat," Bonnie muttered, squirming with remembered mortification.

"Got a lot of people worried about you."

"Well, I was fine," she said in a voice that made it clear that that was all she was going to say about this.

Jeremy stepped out of the bathroom then, donned in his bathing shorts and a towel over his shoulder. Bonnie gave him a clinical once-over. He and Kai Parker had a superficial resemblance: they were both tall, dark-haired, and bearded white men in their _apparent_ twenties… But no one _sober_ would really mistake the two. Jeremy was built like a linebacker with obvious muscles. Kai Parker had a swimmer's physique, lean and muscled like a snake. Jeremy's face was open, still boyish, looking guileless – a ruse, Bonnie knew, but anyone else would have looked at him and just seen an all-American, apple-pie, wholesome young man that you could bring home to your parents.

Kai's face was crafty – strikingly handsome yes, but in a way that made you distrust it. His mouth, in Bonnie's short acquaintance, never seemed to lie in a straight line, but was always curved, twitching, smirking or sneering. His gray eyes were the opposite of wholesome – when they weren't dark with contempt, they were mischievous, sinful and full of secrets.

It took her a moment to realize that Jeremy's ears were tinged pink. Then another moment to realize that she, Bonnie was staring.

She shook herself out of her musings, and got up from the chair. "Sorry, wool-gathering. Let's go."

She didn't notice the twinge of disappointment on his face as she passed him on the way out.

As they walked down the corridor, she threw him an accusing glance. "You told me that the Gemini aren't staying in this hotel."

"They're not. This place is only for guests."

Bonnie shook her head. "Then why does Kai Parker have a room in the hotel?"

Jeremy threw her a surprised look. "How would you even know that?"

"So it's true?" Bonnie insisted, deflecting.

Jeremy shook his head. "No, it's not. It can't be. Why would he book a room in the hotel? He has houses in Portland." He chuckled. "Unless he was hooking up with one of the guests. If anyone would bend the rules, it would be Kai."

 _He wasn't_ , Bonnie almost retorted, and she had to bite the words back. Kai Parker had been with her that night.

Unless, Bonnie thought suddenly, _she_ had interrupted whatever rendezvous he had that night. And who was to say that whatever skank he was hooking up with was coming to _his_ room? Maybe he had gone to _her_ room.

No, Bonnie remembered. He had stayed with her _all_ night.

 _"Don't leave me, OK?"_

Bonnie's face burned as she recalled how in the middle of the night, overcome with her own alcohol-addled melodramatic blues, she had begged not to be abandoned. Only, she reminded herself fiercely, because she had thought she was in Jeremy's room with _Jeremy_. And who knew, really? She was so out of it that night that maybe Kai Parker had still snuck out to hook up with said skank.

Not that Bonnie _cared_.

"…then there's the whole teleportation thing that he's very good at." Jeremy was still speaking.

"I thought that was a heretics thing," Bonnie mused, pulling herself from her wandering thoughts.

"Well, not every Gemini I know can do it," Jeremy reasoned. "I think it's something that only the Parkers can do. They're kind of the ruling family of the coven."

How did that work exactly? Bonnie wondered. How did the Parker family get all the other witches in the coven to concede power to them for – according to the few records and Grimoires she had read about the Gemini – thousands of years, since the time of Questiya and Silas? How did the coven stay strong, _grow_ even under what amounted to a dynastic rule and not disintegrate as more ambitious families broke off to found their own covens?

She asked Jeremy and he shrugged. Not surprising. He was a Hunter and, as he told her, his own interest in witch coven business would boil down which covens were for the 'good' guys and which covens were for the 'bad' guys.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You're useless. Remind me again why I let you be my sidekick?"

Jeremy sputtered. "S…sidekick?" He narrowed his eyes. "Well, who was the one who figured out where those two would be?"

They had stepped through the large glass doors that opened into the pool area, and he gestured discreetly at their targets.

The pool area was crowded with guests. People lounging in chairs, hanging at the bar or swimming and splashing in the infinity-edged pool that vanished into the tree-lines.

For the first few seconds after Bonnie made her entrance, with Jeremy by her side, she could hear the noise of conversations, laughter, people splashing and playing in the water.

Then the first set of prickly eyes landed on her, then another, then another, and soon the whole crowd was staring and all the noise ceased like if a switch had been turned off.

"Scram, Jer," she murmured quietly.

He stared. _You sure? Can you handle this?_ He didn't have to ask the question allowed.

"Scram," she said firmly.

After a pause of hesitation, he shrugged, then backed off, walking slowly towards the pool-side bar.

Bonnie shook her head inwardly, marvelling at his scepticism. Had he forgotten that she had been co-captain of the cheerleading squad, Homecoming Queen, and one of the 'it' girls who ruled high school, long before her ill-concealed reputation as a witch had got people pointing and staring all through out high school and college campus? Bonnie Bennett knew how to bask in the centre of attention – any kind of attention. How to wield the spotlight to her advantage.

This was a piece of cake.

She smiled slowly, dangerously as she made her way to the lounge chairs, weaving between people until she was standing beside the one she wanted.

Her smile broadened as she stared at the vampire who was incongruously trying to tan in the bright afternoon sun, a lapus lazuli pendant sparkling against his ash-white skin.

"Do you mind?" she asked, still smiling.

He took one look at her, and almost jumped out of his skin in his hurry to get up. "Of course not," he muttered, gathering his things with vamp-speed.

"Thank you so much," she said, batting her eyelashes furiously.

Around her, the whole atmosphere seemed to pause as she slowly removed her kamino, revealing the slinky, high-cut navy-blue bikini underneath it. She could almost feel when the gazes changed from curious to the more familiar mix of lust-tinged admiration and envy.

Then she settled into the chair, putting on her sunglasses and the gazes shifted away from her completely, as the figurative spell that her presence had apparently cast on everyone ended, and they fell back into whatever they were doing before she arrived. Glances still came her way, but less obviously so.

From most at least. Not from the two, her intended targets, who sat on the lounge chairs on her left.

"Bonnie Bennett, you have some nerve," said a familiar voice, shaking slightly with suppressed laughter.

Bonnie turned her head and gave Nora Hildegarde a big grin. "Fancy meeting you here."

* * *

AN: There was a pretty big "blink and you'll miss it" revelation in this chapter. Did you spot it?

P.S. Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter. Your takes on Abby were interesting... ;)


	17. Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

**Chapter Seventeen:** **Old Sins Cast Long Shadows**

"Fancy meeting you here."

Nora had put highlights in her hair – purplish streaks amongst the black curls. But other than that, she looked exactly the same as Bonnie remembered.

She smirked at Bonnie's glib greeting. "Yeah, right. You just booted off that poor old vamp from here because you really just liked this view."

Her accent had changed, Bonnie noted. She had sloughed off most of her old-time, almost Victorian way of speaking to something more modern. Which was typical of Nora, as Bonnie recalled. While the rest of her 'family' had been dipping their toes into the new world that they had found themselves in, Nora was diving into it.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bonnie said sweetly. She glanced at the blonde woman on Nora's other side. "Hi, Mary Louise."

The other heretic gave her one frosty glare, then got up pointedly. "Nora, let's go into the pool."

Nora's face morphed from her apparent delight at seeing Bonnie to something like guilt. "Ah… I… Sure…" She gave Bonnie an apologetic look and started getting up.

Bonnie reached over and held Nora's arm. Not a fierce grip, but a gentle, almost caressing pressure.

"Can't you stay for a little bit?" Bonnie asked softly.

She felt Nora's breath hitch, her eyes trying to catch Bonnie's but Bonnie kept her own gaze, downcast, faux demure.

"I never thanked you for saving me the other day," Bonnie continued in the same soft, silky voice. "And it's been what? Almost five years. We have so much to catch up on."

There was a long pause while Nora seemed torn. She looked up at her fiancé who looked a few seconds away from exploding. "Er… May darling…"

Mary Louise let out a loud breath. "I perfectly understand. Do catch up with darling Bonnie. I already had my reunion with her a few days ago," she said through gritted teeth and marched away. Every line of muscle in her unflattering red uni-suit was angry. Even the splash as she threw herself into the water seemed furious.

Nora groaned softly. "You really have the most horrid timing, Bonnie Bennett."

Bonnie did look up then, a more natural grin on her face. "Oh, she'll get over it. She always does. That girl is your own personal push-over."

Nora's eyes flashed a little. "That's my wife, you're talking about," she said levelly. But when Bonnie merely raised an eyebrow, she let out a sigh. "I suppose you're right. She puts up with my crap. Don't ask me why." Her eyes narrowed. "What did Damon say to her to get her so pissed? One minute she's completely willing to help you and the next minute, she's meeting me at the airport and insisting on us backing out of the rescue."

"And did you?" Bonnie asked, curiously. "Back out?"

Nora shrugged. "I didn't have time to make a decision. By then, the Gemini witches had already found you and Damon. Mary Louise and I then got into a big quarrel over the whole thing, all the while trying to figure out if we could stay and brazen it out or if we needed to run. Micah Parker had been looking for a reason to kill us off for years and we had just given her one. We had to hide out for a whole day until we were certain that Kai had put her in check." Her eyes flashed again. "You know, Kai is about the only person in this coven that doesn't wish us dead. Betraying him was not an easy thing to do. I don't care to know what caused it, Damon had no right to provoke Mary Louise after we both sacrificed so much to help you."

There was nothing Bonnie could say to that because it was absolutely true. So, not for the first time, she apologised for her fiancé's behaviour. "It was a stressful time," she said, weakly. "Everyone was on edge. They provoked each other, you know. I don't know what Mary Louise told you…"

"…nothing much. Just that Damon was a disgusting ass who didn't deserve us risking ourselves to save. Which isn't exactly news to me. You know very well that I only did it for you."

"I know."

The two women stared deeply into each other's eyes. It was almost unsurprising when that old feeling stirred inside Bonnie again. Nora had always been…

Bonnie's time with Nora had been short, yes. But it had been more than just one unforgettable night that opened Bonnie's eyes and revealed secrets about her sexuality to herself. There was a time when a few different choices could have led her to another path, a different future with someone other than Damon…

Then Bonnie mentally shook her head, breaking that long gaze. Beside Nora's lounge chair was Mary Louise's and in the same way, the other heretic had never been far from Nora's heart, not even during her time with Bonnie. There had never really been any future for Nora and anyone other than Mary Louise.

"I know and I thank you," Bonnie said now, gently. "And you'll probably think I'm a complete user now but I need some more help."

Nora gave her a wary look. "I've heard the rumours. Please don't tell me that you're really looking to go after the Gemini coven." She cut off Bonnie's words, as she went on. "Because that would be suicide, Bonnie. And I won't help you."

"Since when did you give a damn about the same coven that locked you up in a prison world and threw away the key?" Bonnie asked, curiously.

"Since the coven leader treated me like a person, and not like something evil just by my nature," Nora said solemnly. "Since he gave me a second chance. You know a little of what happened, with Lily and Julian and the others."

Bonnie shook her head. "I know what happened in Mystic Falls. K…Kol freed you in exchange for the Curse on Elena." Even now, knowing and understanding why Nora played a part in this, Bonnie couldn't help a twinge of bitterness in her voice.

But she ignored Nora's look of contriteness, and went on. "After the massacre, you and your family were hiding from the Gemini coven, trying to keep a low profile. You freed Julian. Lily died saving Damon and Stefan from Julian… Then the Gemini showed up, and you and your 'siblings' were divided on what to do. Your family scattered. They left. You and Valerie chose to remain and hide Virginia, until you _left_ …" She trailed off. "You never told me the full story of what happened in Portland. Just that the Travellers resurfaced, and you joined forces with the Gemini when you fought with them."

There was something else, unspoken. Before leaving Mystic Falls for good, Nora had asked Bonnie to run with her. Bonnie had turned her down.

From the glint in Nora's eyes, she knew that Nora remembered this but the heretic only said: "Julian wanted to take the fight to the Gemini, but he knew we weren't strong enough. So he wanted to find a way of freeing the Travellers from their Prison World.

"That was what caused the split. The Gemini were our enemies but the Travellers were enemies to _all_ magical beings. Everything supernatural. Julian's plan was the equivalent of using a nuclear weapon. We might win the war, but then what? The Travellers would have killed us with their Anti-Magic agenda. It was delusional to expect any other outcome. But Julian refused to see reason. He called us cowards and he left with Mal, Beau, Oscar and Mary Louise. She had always been his favourite. When it came to a choice between him and me, she chose him."

Her face took a lost, faraway look. "I didn't really believe he could do it. The travellers had sacrificed themselves to release their leader, Markos and when their first attempt to escape failed, and the Other Side collapsed, everyone believed that they had been sucked into Oblivion. But apparently, they had passed on to another Prison World. Much like you and Kol," she pointed out.

Bonnie suppressed a shudder.

Nora didn't notice, her eyes still far away. " _We_ only got out because of Kol Michaelson, because of his immense power as an Original-turned-witch. The rest of the Originals were dead – at least that's what everyone thought at the time. The only other people who could break anyone out of a Gemini prison were the Gemini themselves. Markos certainly must have done everything in his power, evoking all manner of dark magic and dark bargains and he hadn't been able to free his people. Like I said, I never really believed Julian would succeed.

"But somehow, he found a way. I have no idea how. And then Val and I had to decide – let the Travellers destroy the Gemini, then destroy us… Or help the Gemini defeat the Travellers. Even though, I briefly considered the idea of just running away from it all…" She sighed and Bonnie coughed, awkwardly. "In the end, it wasn't really a hard decision to make.

"But first we had to convince the Gemini that our help was genuine, that we weren't infiltrating them as spies or potential traitors. Kai was the only one who wasn't ready to kill us on sight and he accepted our help. I got to Mary Louise, convinced her to stop fighting. That was the only thing that saved her in the end. It was a bloody, brutal battle but in the end, we won. The Travellers were rounded up, and locked up again. I survived, and so did Mary Louise, and Malcolm. Valerie died killing Julian. I almost believe that that was her entire aim in joining that fight, Travellers or Armageddon be damned. All Val wanted was to end Julian. I never quite knew until the very end, just how much she hated him. For the life of me, I never knew why. And now with both of them dead, I guess I'll never know…"

The faraway look slipped off and Nora's eyes were sharp as they stared at Bonnie. "The Gemini executed Malcolm but for my sake, Mary Louise was banished in a Prison World. It took me many years but I finally convinced him to let her out."

She and Bonnie stared at the gold band on Nora's left hand.

"And you all lived happily ever after," Bonnie said, only half-mockingly.

"So far," Nora said. Her mouth twitched. "If I can get Mary Louise to remember that she's got nothing to worry about from me. And if my ex-girlfriends don't keep dragging us into their conspiracies." She glared at Bonnie again. "I took my time to tell you all this so you can understand why I won't help you. It's one thing for me to save you from Micah's hasty conclusions. She never had the right to go after you without Kai's express approval and she knew it. But it's another thing completely for me to work against the Gemini. Not as long as Kai is the leader. Not even after then. He gave me a chance when it would have been wiser to just kill me. I will never betray him."

"He used you to fight against the Travellers. That wasn't doing you a favour," Bonnie pointed out.

Nora shrugged. "The Travellers are the enemies of everything supernatural. If the Gemini had lost, then the Travellers would have come after the rest of us. Kai did the smart thing when all his advisors, and that his bitch sister, Micah" – Bonnie nodded enthusiastically at this – "were asking him to slice off our heads. And May fought against the coven. He spared her life for my sake. He's my _friend_ , Bonnie. I'm not going to work against him."

"Who said anything about working against anyone?" Bonnie asked mildly. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions."

"About what?"

Bonnie hesitated. "Why weren't the Travellers killed? Why send them back to another Prison World?"

"Most of them _were_ killed. But Markos had long reverse-engineered the same deviant form of immortality that Silas possessed. And he shared it with some of his closest members. So they cannot be easily banished to Oblivion. Then there were still a few Travellers who were relatively young recruits, roped into the war more because of family than their own convictions. I think Kai wanted to give them a second chance, like he did Mary Louise."

Bonnie thought about that for a long moment. "So either some Travellers must have escaped being caught or killed during the war – or these 'relatively young recruits' also broke out from their Prison World."

"Why do you think that?"

"The Travellers who kidnapped me on the morning of the _Intampina_ must have come from _somewhere_."

Nora shook her head. "Not from a Prison World. If there had been another break-in, I would have know about it."

It was Bonnie's turn to give her a sceptical look. "I thought the Parkers were the _de facto_ rulers of the coven. Maybe there are some things they keep amongst themselves.

Nora didn't even look offended, so certain she seemed. "Kai would have told me. He keeps his own inner circle, separate from his family, from the coven in fact. He's my _friend_ , Bonnie."

It wasn't the first time Nora had said it, emphasized it, declared her friendship with Kai Parker almost as if she was declaring her allegiance. And yes, she had explained all the reasons for it but still… Nora could have taken Mary Louise and cut off ties with the Gemini coven, couldn't she? And yet she chose to stay. And Bonnie knew Nora enough to know that it wasn't because of any ambition for power. It looked like she genuinely cared for Kai, and wanted to the best for him.

If Bonnie hadn't known any better, she'd have wondered if Nora was a little bit in love with Kai Parker.

But as far as Bonnie knew, it was very unlikely that Nora could be in love with any man. As she explained, she and Kai Parker were friends. Which made sense. The Nora that Bonnie remembered had always been open to making friends, expanding the boundaries of her affection beyond just one person – another way that she and her wife vastly differed. Mary Louise had always tried to keep herself and Nora in a poisonous little bubble, separate and hostile to the rest of the world. If Nora's feelings for Kai Parker were more than platonic, Mary Louise would know and react accordingly.

Not that any of that was really Bonnie's business, but it would be interesting to find out just how much of all Nora's devotion to the Gemini leader was returned.

She put a mental pin on those thoughts, and asked Nora now, speaking ever-so-casually. "So if you're sure there's not been any break-outs, that means a few Travellers escaped the war, and have been in hiding all along. They used the opportunity of this _Sollemne_ to break into the Gemini stronghold and steal the Ascendants. Where exactly is the stronghold anyway? Is it some mystical location in some alt-dimension or is it a real place?"

Nora glibly answered, not suspecting a thing. "Well, the Ascendants are _Magicae Instrumenta_ , and like every _Instrumentum_ – ancient Grimoires, weapons, talisman, artefacts, they'd be stored in the Gemini Archives. Under layers and layers of cloaking spells, of course. And depending on its importance, only certain Gemini would be able to peel back those layers. Some _Instrumenta_ can only be revealed to members of the Parker family. And there are definitely some that can only be revealed to the Gemini leader himself."

"And the Archives are in a real place, right?" A thought flashed through Bonnie's head. "That Cathedral-like place that we all keep going back to."

"The Temple," Nora said, nodding.

Either Bonnie must have revealed something in her face – the surge of triumph that had rushed through her – or it just happened to click at that moment for Nora.

The heretic drew back, her face twisting with ire.

"Really, Bonnie? Really?" she snapped. "We've reached that point in our friendship where you pump me for information?"

Bonnie had the grace to feel ashamed. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on, Nora.

"So you get me to betray Gemini secrets?"

"Come on, Nora! You barely told me anything. I mean, for example, I'd really like to know…"

Nora was shaking her head firmly. "No. No. Nope."

"… what Prison the second Ascendant was for. The Travellers had two, one for Markos and his Travellers, but who was the second person they were going to free?"

When Nora kept shaking her head, Bonnie threw her hands up in frustration. "Why does everyone keep forgetting that these guys _kidnapped_ me? I want to know what they were planning to do with my blood!"

"Why?" Nora retorted. "Besides knowing they were going to release some very bad people, why do you need to know the specifics?"

"Maybe if I know who is imprisoned in there, I'd have some idea of who really betrayed the Gemini?"

" _You_ want to _help_ the Gemini? The same people that executed Damon?"

Bonnie groaned and slumped into her lounge. Gosh, it would make things so much _simpler_ if she could just tell Nora the truth now, and make the heretic realize that no, Damon wasn't dead and that she, Bonnie, wasn't working against Nora's precious Kai. Bonnie was actually working _for_ him, trying to ferret out the traitor who was in league with the travellers.

But confiding in Nora was out of the question.

So she tried a rationalization tactic. "You didn't particularly _like_ the Gemini when you figured out that it was more important to stop the Travellers from getting out and killing us all. Why is it so hard to believe that I feel the same way?"

"Because part of the reason why I helped the Gemini was to protect the woman I loved; and the Gemini murdered the man _you_ worship." Nora shook her head. "You are devoted to Damon Salvatore. Even before you two became romantically involved with each other, he always came first. When we were together… when you were with Enzo… Nobody was ever as important to you as Damon. I don't believe for one minute, that you'd willingly help _anyone_ who hurts him."

Bonnie gaped. "I…I love Damon, of course. But not to the extent of being _unreasonable_. Not to the extent of siding with monsters who would unleash Magical _Armageddon_."

Nora scoffed. "Look, Bonnie, I know what it is to be devoted to someone who isn't… well, who isn't exactly nice to anyone except me." She waved her ringed hand towards Bonnie. "She put a ring on it and everything. But… May is nice to _me_ at least. I've watched Damon hurt you, watched you get hurt because you threw yourself between him and the consequences of his own stupid decisions…"

"Nora, don't you d…"

"… and I know that no matter what happens, he will always be the only thing that matters to you." She scoffed again. "I know Kai promised to bring Damon back if Ezra returned first, but I know _you_ , Bonnie. You're thinking of a Plan B, and a Plan C, and a Plan D all the way to Z in case that fails. And if it means raising Hell itself to get Damon Salvatore back, you will because if there's one thing I know about you, Bonnie, is that you will throw yourself into literal fire for that man."

And Bonnie was ready to answer her. Was going to list times and dates, starting from as far back as five years ago, when she was lost and alone in 1994, desperate enough to end her life, and Damon had saved her…

" _Didn't anyone ever tell you what happened on your birthday in 1994?"_

And Bonnie's thoughts froze in her brain. The words she needed to speak – in Damon's defence, in _her_ defence – won't come. She swallowed hard. Twice. Thrice.

But still, the words won't come.

Nora waited, her face working through a myriad of emotions that Bonnie could not for the life of her decipher, then she scoffed for the last time and got to her feet. "Whatever. Cross the Gemini. Cross _Kai._ Get yourself killed for Damon Salvatore. I won't be a part of it. Now, if you'll excuse me."

She took a few steps from the chair. Then she paused and turned back.

Bonnie stared up at her, mute and mindless, feeling almost dazed from the impact of Nora's words, and the heretic's strange anger.

"I will say this much to you, Bonnie Bennett, because despite everything, I have never stopped caring about you. It's all well and good to sacrifice so much for one person but ask yourself if that person's ever done the same for you."

A few hours ago, Bonnie would have had a sharp, ready retort on her lips.

But like that ill-omened bird, the crow, Jeremy's words kept cawing over and over in her brain:

" _Didn't anyone ever tell you what happened on your birthday in 1994?"_

And she remembered her own words to Damon a few days after she had returned from the hell-hole that was the 1994 Prison World, standing in the kitchen of the Salvatore House and staring up at him, knowing that her heart was on her face and not caring.

" _If it wasn't for your notes on the map of Nova Scotia, I would have never remembered there was magic on that island. There's a good chance that I wouldn't be here today."_

And Damon had looked at her, with a pained expression on his face. She had thought it was embarrassment at glimpsing her feelings, or at being thanked, or maybe mixed feelings from being given the Cure – what she had brought in gratitude to him _saving_ her.

His first proof to her that he could and would sacrifice for her, sacrifice to save her…

" _Didn't anyone ever tell you what happened on your birthday in 1994?"_

Bonnie licked her dry lips, and managed to say. "Damon has… Damon will…"

Nora rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to go swim with my wife."

And the heretic dived into the pool, leaving Bonnie sitting on the lounge, staring sightlessly before her.

* * *

"You OK?" Jeremy asked quietly.

He had joined Bonnie after Nora left, and the two of them had left the pool area then.

For a long moment, Bonnie didn't answer him, thoughts scurrying through her head.

 _Don't go there, BonBon. You don't want to know. Let the past stay buried in the past…_

The same words that had rattled in her brain earlier.

But that was Damon talking.

"Jeremy," she said finally. "What do you know about my birthday in 1994?"

He gave her a surprised look. "I know that you…" His face darkened. "I know that you tried to take your life," he said quietly.

Bonnie felt her heart sink. No-one was supposed to know that. No one.

"I need you to tell me everything that you know," she said softly. "Hold nothing back."

* * *

They walked aimlessly about the hotel for almost an hour, talking. Well, Jeremy did all the talking while Bonnie mostly listened. She stopped him twice to ask a question, but for the rest of it, she was silent.

Outwardly though. Inside her head, she was screaming.

Five years? Five years! And she'd never known the whole truth!

How was that even possible?

Even if Damon had _de_ \- and even now her mind shied from completing the thought - had not told her everything, what about Elena and Jeremy?

Elena…

" _Bonnie, are you sure?"_

 _Standing side by side in that snowy prison, waiting for Damon to return with his mother as Bonnie told Elena that she was leaving Kol behind._

" _The only way I can close the most horrible chapter of my life, is to end it."_

Why hadn't Elena said anything then?

 _It was Elena that killed Kol._

Because she had her own reasons to fear Kol Michaelson, Bonnie realized. Her own reasons for wanting him locked up for good. And then Elena was stolen from Bonnie's life, mere months after Bonnie returned from 1994.

As for Jeremy… Jeremy hadn't known she locked Kol Michaelson in a prison world. Jeremy had left before Bonnie even came back, and other than two voicemails they had left for each other, the next time she saw him was the day of Elena's 'funeral', and then her rescue had been the furthest thing from her mind. And, neither of them knew it then, but they weren't going to see or speak to each other again for another five years.

Of course, she won't have known to even _ask_ Jeremy about this. Damon had made it seem like it was all him. He had been the one to figure out a way of getting a message to her, and he had done it all on his own. Five years had come and gone and he never said a word to disabuse her of that belief.

 _Five years and Damon let me continue to think that he found a way all by himself to get that map where I could find it. A map that he hadn't even drawn for me but for Elena's sake. To find the Cure for Elena._

It all came back to Elena in the end, didn't it?

But… But there had still been one more person that had known the truth. The one person who would have been most invested in telling Bonnie the truth.

 _Why didn't he tell me?_ Bonnie asked herself, a headache blooming in her head. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing that a man - a monster - like _him_ would have hesitated to throw into her face.

But – a sudden memory hit her - he had, hadn't he?

 _"You left me to rot in another prison world, after years of being trapped in one, after I saved your life over and over again."_

She remembered bleeding out in the Salvatore's dungeon, watching and listening as Kol paced before her, promising how much he was going to hurt her.

He had been so angry, almost mad with rage.

Bonnie hadn't wondered why.

They had hated each other. Her hatred for him had pushed her through her nightmarish trial as anchor long after the persistent trauma of her existence had threatened to overwhelm. She wasn't going to give his sneering, malicious face the satisfaction of laughing at her crumbling under the weight of the decision she had made not to lift the Veil. He had always been there, right there beside every agonizing moment she had spent as Anchor. And she knew that he had never forgiven her that decision, the role she had played in his demise, his hatred increasing with every passing moment. The temporary pax in 1994 had all been part of a deliberate rouse – the twisted games, the elaborate, malicious, _evil_ pretense he had staged had all been to lull her into letting down her guard for the eventual betrayal. That he could con her into developing feelings for him was the icing on the cake.

Of all the Mikaelsons, Kol had been rumored to be the most vindictive. Having known Klaus, Bonnie had never understood how this was possible. But after 1994, she had discovered first-hand that Kol lived up to every bit of his monstrous reputation.

In the end, hatred was all there would ever be between them. Hatred and fear. That was why she had gone along with Damon's plan to get him into helping them break Lily Salvatore out of 1903 and locked him up there. It was only a matter of time before one of them came after the other and Bonnie was determined to strike first.

Kol's rage.

Damon's plan.

" _I just wanted to thank you for helping me find closure today."_

That was her, Bonnie, thanking Damon for helping her imprison Kol Mikaelson. But…

But…

And now, Bonnie's thoughts whirled.

Hadn't they gone to 1903 to _save Damon's own mother_? Hadn't she, Bonnie, already been willing to help Damon with her blood?

Why had _she_ thanked _him_?

By the time, she reached her room, her head was pounding.

"Bonnie, are you sure you're OK?" Jeremy asked.

"I… I'm not sure," she answered, surprising herself with the truth. "I think I need to lie down."

Jeremy glanced at his water-proof watch. "You have enough time. Make the most of it."

 _No, I don't_ , Bonnie realized with a jolt. By evening, Kai Parker would be coming to take her to see Damon. She felt panic rising inside her. She wasn't ready to see Damon. She needed to _think_. She needed to _breathe_ …

"Bonnie, are you sure you're OK?" Jeremy asked again.

"Nothing a nap can't cure. Er… thanks, Jer for today."

He seemed unsure but he nodded. "Any time. Let me know what's next, OK?"

She managed a strained smile. "Sure."

She quickly stepped into her room.

Abby was still gone. Bonnie didn't even bother peeling off the swim suit that she hadn't even got wet in. She crawled into her bed, and pulled the covers over her head.

It took her a long time to sleep, as memories and thoughts chased themselves around her head.

* * *

 _They were holding hands when they walked up the street to the Salvatore hostel. Bonnie kept snatching her fingers, but Kol would just catch them back and after a while, she gave up._

 _She also gave up on repressing the happy smile from her face. She knew her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were shining. His own face was more open than she had ever seen, his hair flopping carelessly, his eyes dancing and he looked every bit the young man he must have been before he lost his mortality – happy, smug, infatuated._

 _It won't take a vampire to guess what had happened between them._

 _Bonnie didn't care._

 _At least, not until she caught sight of Damon, standing at the porch with a beer in his hand, staring at the two of them like if they had just crawled out from under a rock._

 _Bonnie tried in earnest to snatch her hand away, but Kol just held firmly. He walked right up to the brooding vampire, and offered his free hand._

 _"_ _Hello, mate."_

 _Damon swung his fist._

 _Thirty minutes later, tears were rolling down her cheeks as she pressed ice into Kol's face. Damon had left, nursing an aneurysm and a hex that would leave his skin shriveled for the next twelve hours._

 _"_ _I'm s-sorry," Bonnie whispered, her voice breaking with mingled pain and anger. "I knew he won't like it but I hadn't expected him to react…"_

 _Kol chuckled softly, his blue eyes twinkling. The hex had been more to shut the ugly words coming out of Damon's mouth than any real rage on his part._

 _"_ _Don't be. Can't say I blame the bloke. I'd have done the same thing myself if you had hooked up with him."_

 _Bonnie swatted his shoulder. "Yeah, right."_

 _His twinkled dimmed. "You know he wants you, right?"_

 _Bonnie stared, then burst out laughing. "What?"_

 _Kol scoffed. "You're not that oblivious. What do you think all of this" – he gestured at his black eye –"was about?"_

 _"_ _Damon being upset that I hooked up with the guy that tried to kill his girlfriend? Damon being a big fat hypocrite considering he also hooked up with Rebekah but still…"_

 _Kol pretended to gag. "Arrgh! Don't remind me." His face turned serious, and he gently pushed her hand away. "You really don't see it, do you, Bonnie Bennett?"_

 _Bonnie shook her head, bemused. "See what?"_

 _Kol lifted his hand to her cheek, cupped it. His eyes were dark, yet soft and Bonnie felt her own lashes falling beneath his gaze. His hand against her face was impossibly soft, impossibly gentle._

 _"_ _How beautiful you are." His mouth was near hers now, and his voice brushed air against her mouth. She felt her lips softening, parting. Gasped when his mouth brushed hers. "So, so beautiful, Bonnie…" Was the last thing he said before he covered her mouth with his own completely._

 _They left Mystic Falls after that, commencing their cross-country tour to find the components of the Gemini Device spread across North America. They visited Montana, New Orleans, Seattle and even Vegas._

 _"_ _Did someone do this?" Bonnie wondered, staring at the map one morning in Houston. "Did someone deliberately destroy the Ascendant and scatter its pieces across the country?"_

 _"_ _Who knows?" Kol said, nuzzling her cheek with his own, distracting her. "Who cares?"_

 _His scruff tickled and Bonnie giggled. "We'd find this faster if you weren't so horny all the time."_

 _He chuckled, his fingers looping through her belt. "Like you mind."_

 _Bonnie snorted, and then turned in his arms._

 _She was right, of course. Their time on the road was more of a honey-moon than a quest to find the key to escape their prison. But she wasn't really complaining._

 _Later, after everything had gone to hell, this was what had burnt the most – that those ten magical days, exploring that empty world with someone she thought cared for her – became a memory that filled her with self-loathing._

 _Before they left, she had left a note for Damon, despite Kol's objections, and gave him ample time to join them on their journey. He chose to keep his distance. It hurt Bonnie a little. She thought they had become friends. But anger at his hypocrisy overshadowed her hurt; and she was happy that his disapproving figure wasn't there to cast a cloud over her and Kol's time together._

 _She still had to pinch herself sometimes that this was actually happening._

 _Her and Kol Mikaelson._

 _Never in a million years, would she have imagined this._

 _What would her friends back at home think if they knew?_

Would they ever know?

 _That sobering thought always ended her musings._

 _Despite all the ground they had covered so far, there was a chance that none of them were ever going back home._

 _The sense of unreality, of being in some kind of half-life in this retro 1994 world, always pervaded every moment of her consciousness. Perhaps it was that, more than anything else, that had made this thing between her and Kol possible._

 _And never had that sense of unreality been so strong as the last day of that 'honeymoon'._

 _Their quest was over, and they were back at Whitmore, at her dorm – or what would be her dorm in the future. They were going to go to Mystic Falls the next day with the assembled Device. The spell was still a work-in-progress – and not even a stop at Portland, where Kol had said was the capital of the coven – had yielded anything. But they were one step closer to getting home; and despite what Kol insinuated, Bonnie wasn't going to leave Damon behind._

 _Kol had gone 'shopping'. Bonnie had been lazing in bed, spell-books spread beside her that she wasn't really studying. The knock on the door startled her – that was not Kol's style – then she realized who it must be._

 _Slightly nervous, she opened it to let Damon in._

 _He gave her a slow, measuring look, no doubt trying to make her ashamed of her sleep shorts and bra-less cami._

 _It had the opposite effect. She lifted her chin and blocked the door with her body._

 _"_ _If you didn't come with an apology then I suggest you get out before my boyfriend finishes the job he started the last time?"_

 _"_ _What the fuck is wrong with you?" he exploded. "You went away with that creep for-"_

 _"_ _Nice skin, Damon. Leave before you lose it." Bonnie made to slam the door on his face._

 _He pushed his foot in and held it back._

 _"_ _I'm warning you…" Bonnie hissed._

 _He threw something at her. Shocked, her magic reacted immediately, freezing it mid-air an inch before it slammed into her face._

 _"_ _What the hell-" she started, then stopped._

 _The glass vial filled with red liquid that sloshed before her was hauntingly familiar._

 _"_ _The Cure," Damon snapped unnecessarily._

 _"_ _How did you…" Bonnie asked, confused, startled. "Did you go to Nova Scotia?"_

 _"_ _I didn't have to," Damon growled. "I found it up at the old Mikaelsons's House." When she just kept staring at him in confusion, his face twisted with malicious glee. "With the rest of your boyfriend's things. Including this…" He waved a scroll of parchment at her._

 _He was deliberately swinging it from side to side, so she couldn't make out the written words, but she saw enough to make a good guess as to what it was._

 _The Spell to leave the Prison World._

 _Bonnie blanched._

 _Damon barked out a laugh. "Guess he forgot to tell you that little tid-bit, right? Wonder what else your boo might be hiding in that casket of his?"_

 _He pushed the door fully open, shouldering past her to enter her dorm, and this time, Bonnie didn't stop him._

 _She turned slowly to face him, her knees weak, her head faint as reality came crashing down hard. Painfully._

 _Inevitably._

 _Should she really have been surprised?_

 _When had she ever been wanted by someone who didn't want to use her first?_

 _Damon stood in the middle of her room, his arms crossed and his face hard. "Now that you've come to your senses, Bon-Bon, you and I are going to talk about what to do about Kol Mikaelson."_

* * *

 _ **AN**_ _: Of course, we'd all like to hope/think that Bonnie did the sensible thing and asked Kol directly, rather than jumping into Damon-biased conclusions... but this would probably be an entirely different story if she had. ::sighs::_


	18. Prelude to War

**Chapter Eighteen: Prelude to War**

Bonnie woke with a jolt, her eyes flying open. After a confused moment, she realized that the room looked different because it was darker. The open curtains had been drawn closed, and through the slits between them, she could see that it was nighttime. Hours must have passed since she crawled into bed.

With another jolt, she checked her watch but it didn't tell her what she hadn't already realized. It was hours since her rendezvous with Damon should have taken place. She had missed it.

She hadn't even started processing the feelings that hit her

– disappointment yes, but was there also a little relief,too? Relief that she might have just avoided a confrontation? –

when there was a loud knock on the door.

"Bonnie Bennett? Are you in there?"

 _That_ was what had woken her so abruptly.

The voice was familiar but Bonnie couldn't quite place it. After a second's hesitation, she called out: "I'm in. Hold on a second."

"OK."

She got out of bed. She was still just wearing a swim wrap over her bikini, so she hastily swapped the wrap for a pair of shorts and a tee. As she stepped towards the door, her hand out-stretched, she almost tripped.

"Yikes!" she gasped.

"Is everything OK?"

"Y… Yeah, I'm good. I just slipped on..." She stared at the floor, confused. Her left foot had stepped on something that felt distinctly like paper, the smoothness of it in contrast to the rough hotel carpet had made her slide until she caught herself.

But when she stared at the floor, there was nothing there.

"Er… Bonnie?"

"Just a moment!" She felt around the floor gingerly with her foot, until her toe touched the edge of what definitely _felt_ like the corner of a flat, thick piece of paper. But Bonnie's eyes still saw nothing but carpet.

She knelt and felt around her foot until her fingers closed around a thick wad of paper. It felt about the size, shape and weight of an envelope, but looking at her hand, she appeared to be clutching empty air.

Thinking fast, she quickly walked to her bed, and pushed her invisible letter under her pillow. Then she went to open the door.

Olivia Parker stood outside, dressed in a black, floor-length dress and beside her was a familiar figure, also dolled up in evening wear, but dark-green and knee-length.

Lucy.

Bonnie instinctively started slamming the door, but Olivia had already got her foot in.

"Hey," she said. "Rude much? We need to talk to you."

Bonnie glared at Lucy, who had the grace to look ashamed. "How dare you show your face at my door?"

"Come on, Bonnie," Lucy said plaintively. "You've ignored me long enough. You need to hear me out."

"I _did_. That's what landed me here. Now Damon is gone and I don't know if he's coming back. So excuse me for not wanting to listen to any more of your crap."

Olivia Parker looked over her shoulders and winced. "OK, guys. We're giving your neighbors a free show. Let's take this inside."

"No freaking way-" Bonnie started, but Olivia just leaned hard on the door, putting the weight of her tall body behind it and Bonnie had to move her own petite frame out of the way quickly or be flattened against the wall.

With an apologetic look, Lucy stepped in, and Olivia followed, swinging the door shut behind her.

Bonnie gaped at the audacity. "You know that my magic works just fine here? I can eviscerate both of you in the blink of an eye."

"Bonnie!" Lucy said sharply.

Olivia raised her hands up. "Hey, you don't have to prove yourself to me. You're Bonnie _freaking_ Bennett. Every here's still talking about what you did on that road; and there's no siphoner at hand to take you down. We are only here to talk." She glanced at Lucy. "Both of us."

Bonnie glared at the two women for a long moment, considering just setting both on fire. Then she exhaled loudly and sat on her bed abruptly.

"Fine, then. Talk."

When they moved to sit across on Abby's bed. Bonnie thought of forbidding it, then realized that was childish, even for her.

After a moment's hesitation, Lucy started speaking. And once Bonnie realized what Lucy was doing, she felt her irritation at her cousin lessen just a bit as amusement filled her.

It was almost… touching, really, watching the usually poised, aloof Lucy Bennett dripping with earnestness as she went on and on on her own version of the "Bonnie, Don't Do Anything Stupid and Get Yourself Killed Going Up Against the Gemini" cautionary speech.

Of course, Lucy was not in on Bonnie's and Abby's plan with Kai Parker; but Bonnie had not given any thought to how Lucy would react when talk of how Bonnie was all but declaring war on the Gemini would reach her.

Nor, Bonnie realized, as she turned her glare from Lucy to Olivia Parker, had she given much thought to what the other Gemini would think about her actions.

With a sudden thrill of alarm, Bonnie realized that this 'cover' of hers exposed her to not only danger from the Travelers, but also from the Gemini themselves if they really decided to take her barbed threats seriously. She had just assumed that Kai would handle his people but now…

Lucy finished talking and Olivia now took her turn. Like Bonnie had just guessed, the Parker witch was here to pass on a veiled threat.

"Look, I know things with you and us Gemini have been tense of late…"

Bonnie scoffed at the massive understatement.

Olivia ignored that. "But you need to sit tight and trust that we'll keep our word about Damon Salvatore. Either we get Ezra back or you do Kai his favor. Whatever happens, you're getting your boyfriend back. Going around, stirring the pot, acting like if you're one breath away from turning the _Sollemne_ into a bloodbath… that's not smart. That's not smart at all. Luke told me how impulsive you are, but now's the time to think first, kill later."

Bonnie felt real ire rise inside her. The reminder that this Gemini was the twin of that conman Luke Parker just incensed her further. "You don't know the last thing about me," she corrected harshly. "And, for the record, I'd like to see you lose someone in your life, someone important in your life and then you can come back to me and talk about being reasonable."

To Bonnie's surprise, rather than anger, it was sorrow that flashed through Olivia's eyes.

"You think you're the only one who's ever lost anyone?" Olivia asked quietly.

"What would _you_ know about loss, Olivia Parker?" Bonnie retorted. "You belong to one of the oldest covens in the world that's protected you since before you were born. You've lived in the supernatural world all your life and you actually get to _enjoy_ being a witch and not be used by everyone around you because there's literally no one else to save the day. Your family is all around you. Heck, your brother is – what? - Gemini King, right? That makes you a fucking Princess. Well, I'm not a Princess. I'm just a Witch. And I don't know what fairy tales they read you in your pretty Gemini nursery, but witches lose."

When Bonnie finished, she was panting, her eyes prickling and her hands clenched into fists as she stared at the other girl whose round eyes were all but bulging out of her eyes.

Lucy drew in a sharp breath. "Bonnie-" she started, but Olivia shook her head and Lucy fell silent.

When Olivia spoke, her voice was flat, in the unsettling way that meant that rather than feeling nothing, she was actively masking pain. "My mother died giving birth to me and my brother." She ignored Bonnie's gasp, and continued speaking in that eerie voice. "When I was four, I was in a fire that killed one of my sisters. That same night, I lost my oldest sister. My Dad killed himself on my twenty-second birthday. A few years ago, my brother Mike was killed by Markos the Traveller. Then _Luke_ … my _twin_ … my _best friend_ … " She drew in a shaky breath before she could speak again. "Well, he's not dead but he might as well be. Or rather, _we_ might as well be for all he cares. So yes, Bonnie Bennett," she said, her voice hardening. "I might be a 'Princess'. But I'm also a witch. And I do know what it means to lose."

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, closed it, then opened it again. "I… I had no idea…"

Olivia shrugged, turning her face away. "The only reason why I'm telling you this is so that you'll listen to me when I advise you to seat tight, and not do anything you'll regret."

It occurred to Bonnie that this would have been a good time to be defiant, to declare something in the vein of how she didn't give a damn about or even believe Olivia Parker's sob story and she'd never trust the Gemini as far as she could throw them.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not now when she felt approximately two inches tall.

She nodded silently.

Olivia gave her a thin smile and stood up, walking away. At the door, she stopped, hesitating. "Look. All what I said… Don't go around pitying me or anything of that crap. I have two brothers and a crazy-bitch sister who love me. I have more nieces and nephews than I can keep count. I'm not hurting in the men department, either. And between you and me, my father's suicide was a blessing in disguise. My life is good, far better than most. So if I catch you looking at me funny, I'm going to kick your ass."

Despite herself, Bonnie felt her lips twitch. "Noted."

Olivia gave her a less-thin smile, then left the room.

Leaving the two cousins alone for the first time in what felt like ages.

* * *

"You're not dressed," was the first thing Lucy said.

Bonnie shifted her stare from the older woman to her own casual outfit. "Wasn't expecting guests. Sorry to embarrass you in front of your Gemini groupie."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I meant that you're not dressed for the Ball," she snapped.

Bonnie stared. "What Ball?" Then she remembered. Abby had given her the plan of events early that morning. But with everything that happened since the _Contio_ how the heck was Bonnie supposed to remember? That was Abby's job. Where was she anyway?

She asked Lucy and her cousin looked a tad guilty. "We agreed she'd get dressed at my hotel room to give you and I a chance to talk."

Bonnie should have known. "Always the manipulator, Lucy."

Lucy winced. "That was uncalled for."

"Isn't it?" And this wasn't play-acting anymore. Bonnie's words were lashed with fury. "Because you might be a Bennett, Lucy, but you're every bit Katherine Pierce's protege. Congratulations. The student has become the Master."

Lucy seemed to quail, Bonnie's words clearly hitting where they hurt the most. "I'm nothing like..."

"Going behind my back to tell Damon about breaking the Curse? Forcing me to come to this place? Blackmailing us to give Abby the Cure?"

"Everything I did, I did for your sake…"

"You did for _your_ sake. Because _you_ don't approve of my marriage. Because _you_ don't understand my relationship with Damon."

"No one who cares for you would ever think Damon Salvatore is good enough for you!" Lucy shouted.

"You're missing the _fucking_ point! That's not your problem! That's mine. You had no call, no business, _no fucking right…_ "

"Bonnie…"

" _I don't know you, Lucy Bennett_. We're not friends. We might share DNA but that's it. We're little more than strangers. I've known _him_ , the freaking Vampire, longer than I've known you. I've shared parts of my life with him that you have no freaking idea of; and you don't have the right, you've _never_ had the right to interfere with us the way you have."

Lucy fell silent. Whether because she was at a genuine loss for words or because Bonnie's anger overwhelmed her, Bonnie couldn't tell. Her cousin's was unreadable.

"You weren't there for me through the dark times. Damon was. You weren't the one by my side when I battled Klaus, battled the Originals, battled Kol, Silas, Nadia Cruz, the heretics, the Armory. Damon was. Yes, I know you helped in the past _few_ years, Lucy," she said before Lucy could get a word in, "but you never stuck around afterwards. Damon did."

"Except when he locked himself in a coffin to wait out your death," Lucy said quietly.

It took everything in Bonnie not to fling a hex at her cousin. Even now, after all these years, the memory of _that_ still filled her with pain and she _hated_ Lucy for bringing it up.

"Well, he made up for that when he saved me from being the Huntress and killing all my friends," she hissed.

"All your _vampire_ friends," Lucy corrected.

Bonnie let out a hysterical laugh. "Oh, so that's your angle now? Your problem with Damon was that he's a _vampire_? Is this really coming from the woman who was raised by Katherine Pierce?"

"My time with Katherine Pierce was a mistake," Lucy said quietly. "And in time, you'll realize the same about Damon."

"Never going to happen."

For a long moment, neither woman said a word. Lucy's face was taut, twisted with emotions that she was struggling not to show. Bonnie was breathing hard, pain and anger churning through her and her eyes were straining with the effort of holding back tears.

It was Lucy that spoke first. "You know what, Bonnie? You're right. I don't know you. But you don't know me either. And you…" She stopped. Swallowed visibly. Started again. "You saved me from Katherine and I thought…" Her words trailed off.

There was another long moment. Then Lucy let out a long sigh, and she rolled her shoulders as if figuratively throwing off a weight and got to her feet.

Staring down at Bonnie, she said quietly. "I'm sorry for everything I did to hurt you. I never meant to but… I'm not going to tell you that I think Damon is anything but the worst thing that ever happened to you, but I'm not standing in your way again."

Bonnie stared up at her, her heart suddenly pounding.

Lucy cleared her throat. "So… I'm backing off. Tonight's ball is the _Noctis Orationis –_ the Night of Prayers. The night when all the guests make their requests to the Gemini, and when people like me call in favors. It's the whole point of the _Sollemne,_ really _._ Tonight, I was supposed to ask Kai to break the Curse between you and Elena. And now… I won't."

If Bonnie hadn't already been sitting down, she would have fallen to the ground. Hope rose in her, as quickly and painfully like a balloon forcing its way through the narrow canal of her spine.

"You're not going to…"

"I'm not going to come between you and Damon again, Bonnie. From henceforth, whatever happens, I'm out of your love life. Your entire life, too, if that's what you want."

Bonnie laughed shortly, bitterly. "Should I be thankful for your late, 'already-done-the-damage' epiphany?"

Lucy's face twisted. "Yeah, well… Better late than never," she said weakly. Her stance seemed to become resolute, and her next words were clear and firm. "I know you don't think this means much of anything, Bonnie but I am on your side. The Gemini gave you their word to get Damon back, and I trust them. I trust Kai. But Abby's probably filling your head with all her history with them so… I've already given you the speech about not doing anything drastic so I won't repeat it. But if you ever need help with … well… anything. Anything at all. You have my help. I might not like it. Or agree with it. I might think it's plain stupid and crazy but… I've got your back. I'll follow you along whatever crazy journey you plan on embarking on.

"We more than share some DNA, Bonnie Bennett. We're family."

Nothing her cousin could have said would have surprised Bonnie more. She gaped at the older woman, speechless.

Lucy looked away first. She got to her feet, awkwardly and walked to the other side of the room. "Er… so I can do your hair for the ball. Since Abby isn't here and everything…"

It was an olive branch and Bonnie wavered over taking it.

"… or I can just call her to come over?" Lucy finished, quietly.

"Yes," Bonnie decided. Lucy's words, her sudden change of heart… Bonnie needed time to herself to process it. Process everything. Her anger wasn't going to go away at the snap of Lucy's manicured fingers because of a few late speeches and offers of good-will, no matter how sincere Lucy seemed to be at the moment.

Lucy's face shook with disappointment, then smoothened over with her usual poise. "OK. See you at midnight."

Bonnie watched her leave, her heels tapping softly on the carpet.

* * *

After the door closed, Bonnie got to her feet, thoughts swirling through her head. She was still spiralling in the loop that Lucy's offer had thrown her into and her first knee-jerk instinct was to reach out to Damon, and talk it over with him. But of course, that was impossible. Damon was somewhere she couldn't access and she had missed out on her chance to see him that evening.

Had Kai Parker even showed up at all? Bonnie wondered. She checked her watch. If he had, it would have been while she had still been fast asleep. Had Abby been in the room then and told him to leave her be? Or had he made that decision for himself? Maybe he had come in here, found her asleep and decided she wasn't in any state to portal jump to Damon's cell?

Bonnie felt her face flush with embarrassment. at the thought of Kai seeing her sleeping in her bathing suit. Then the embarrassment turned to anger. It wasn't just creepy. It was _cheating_. She remembered his cold attitude that morning, what she felt strongly was clear disapproval at her and Damon, and then earlier, his words to her about the Martyr Complex he armchair-psychoanalyzed for her.

 _Screw Kai Parker!_ She thought, clenching her fists. She wasn't a freaking _Gemini_. She didn't answer to him. And he had no right to make decisions about what she was up for or not! They had a deal, with clear terms and he needed to live up to his own end to the letter or there was no telling what she would do.

And now there was no talking to Damon, until at least the next evening. Unless Kai was going to be at this ball and Bonnie could corner him, force him to take her to Damon? He had to be there, right? If this was the Main Event, the _Noctis Orationis_ that everybody and their dog migrated to Portland for, surely the oh so great and powerful Gemini leader would preside over it?

With rage-powered resolve, Bonnie started getting ready for the event. She was in and out the shower in a flash, and she pulled on the first piece of formal wear she spotted in the wardrobe. It was in shades of blue, styled to be mini in front but trailing into a maxi skirt at the back. It was one of her favorites and she almost changed her mind – she'd rather have worn it at a time when Damon could see it and appreciate it – but she reminded herself that in less than an hour, she'd corner Kai Parker and he'd take her to Damon.

Only… if he was presiding over the _Noctis Orationis,_ would she, Bonnie get a chance to see him? Abby hadn't told her much of the logistics of the event. But Bonnie mentally shrugged off these details, as she clasped on her pearl-drop earrings and donned the rest of her matching jewelry. She didn't know how, but she would find a way. She _had_ to speak to Damon. As soon as possible.

Of course, Bonnie already knew what she would decide about the Curse if left to her. But it wasn't just left to her, was it? After all, the only reason why she was in Portland in the first place was because of Damon's faith in the Curse being broken.

With a pang of alarm, Bonnie realized that there was even someone else who had a more important claim than Damon over whether the Curse should be broken or not.

But could she… did she dare… tell _Jeremy_ about all this? What would he think? What would Jeremy choose?

With another pang, Bonnie realized that the idea of Jeremy choosing to have the Curse broken, regardless of the risk to her, would hurt her feelings. Throughout their short-lived, rocky relationship, despite the cheating and Anna, not for one moment had Bonnie ever doubted Jeremy's unfailing desire to see her safe. Yes, there were many times she hadn't appreciated this. Many times she had found it unreasonable, impractical, sometimes even demeaning – the way he constantly questioned her decisions, the way she had to hide her plans from him because of his persistent nagging about how she risked herself.

But she had never once doubted that Jeremy wanted her safe. And he had proven several times that if given a choice between Bonnie and Elena, as hard as it must have been for him, he would never choose to risk Bonnie's life for his sister's.

She swallowed hard now, her hand shaking as she pulled her hair into a sorry attempt at an elegant chignon – when would Abby get here, anyway? - and held it in place with a long hairpin, remembering.

There were several times when armed with nothing but his own human strength, Jeremy Gilbert had tried to stand between herself and danger.

And for that singular reason

– despite her feelings about Damon's role in this… despite the sheer impossibility, incredulity of the _idea_ that Kol Mikaelson had risked his life to save hers, Bonnie Bennett, the bane of his existence –

Bonnie could not bring herself to doubt anything Jeremy had told her about her birthday in 1994.

She hurriedly started stuffing her purse, her movements agitated.

Yes, that recent revelation was still there, rattling in her head, pushed to the background but far from silent. Between Lucy's and Olivia's visits and her own harried thoughts, Bonnie hadn't had a chance to reflect over Jeremy's tale. But now she felt it pushing itself to the forefront, demanding her attention…

 _Damon will explain._ She told herself.

 _You mean he'll tell you a more convincing lie?_ An insipid voice – the sound of her insecurities – countered in her head.

It was a relief when in the process of reaching under her pillow for her phone, that her hand collided with something hard and invisible.

At first, she was shocked, having completely forgotten. Then she remembered.

She yanked out the sightless envelope and held it up to the light.

It was completely invisible – the only sign that Bonnie was even holding anything was the weight in her hand.

She tested the magic around it, but it was anonymous. Whoever had done this, did a careful job of not leaving any signature.

It took her a moment to decide. It couldn't be dangerous – there were far easier, less complicated ways of harming someone with magic. She placed the envelope to her dresser, fetched a candle from her ready bag of supplies in her wardrobe, substituted talc powder for chalk – less messy – and did a basic revelation spell.

A plain white envelope materialized on her dresser table. She picked it up, slit it open, and pulled out a single piece of thick paper.

It was blank.

For a moment, Bonnie was stumped. The revelation spell ought to have revealed invisible ink as well. Then she realized that the senders had considered the possibility of the envelope falling into the wrong hands. The letter was magically encrypted. It would only be revealed by using a password of sorts.

With a sigh, she yanked out the hairpin that was only barely keeping her dreadful hair style in place and stabbed her index finger, wincing only slightly.

After all, what was a better password than the physical manifestation of her magical essence?

The moment the first drop of her blood touched the paper, it shimmered, and then letter by letter, the black-inked words on the paper revealed themselves to her.

 _Dear Miss Bennett,_

 _It's come to our attention that we might have a mutual enemy. We feel we can help each other. You already know that you cannot trust the Gemini to keep their word about your fiancé. But first we need to know that we can trust you. If you're really prepared to do battle against the Gemini, then prove it. With Gemini blood._

 _Regards,_

 _Your Companions on the Road._

She had barely finished reading the last word when the paper disintegrated in her hands, falling back on the paper in a string of white powder.

Bonnie sat back on her seat and stared at her pink-stained fingers.

* * *

The door to the room opened and she started, spinning on her seat with flames at the tips of her fingers.

Abby took a few steps into the room, then stopped, raising up her hands in surrender and staring at Bonnie in alarm. "Bonnie?" she asked, her voice careful. "I know you're upset about Lucy but she begged me…"

Bonnie quickly shook out her fingers. "N… no. Sorry, I'm not… Actually, I _am,_ " she remembered, stopping in the middle of wiping her hands. "But that's not important now."

Abby put down her arms and approached Bonnie cautiously. "OK. What is? And maybe you can share it while I do your hair? The Ball is in less than thirty minutes."

Bonnie swiveled back to face the mirror, and while her mother worked her magic in her hair, she told her about the note.

Abby whistled lowly. "The fish have bitten then."

"These aren't ordinary fish. They're asking me to prove my resolve with Gemini blood. These are Piranha."

"What are you going to do?" Abby asked worriedly.

Her hair was almost done. Bonnie stared at her reflection and a poised, dangerously beautiful woman smiled grimly back.

"I'm going to be a shark."


	19. The Night of Prayers

**Chapter Nineteen: The Night of Prayers**

At night, the Temple was a sight to behold - fairy lights lit up the grounds, and the stone of the Temple reflected back a myriad of ethereal colours. Bonnie watched them, fascinated by the way they shimmered, changing but not quite, with every angle of her glance.

Beside her, Abby was not so enchanted.

"Bonnie, this plan of yours…"

"Not another word, Abby," Bonnie said firmly. "I've let you say your piece and that was it. Now leave me to enjoy myself for the little time I have."

It was hard enough already to do so with the constant flicker of curious eyes in her direction. She had texted Jeremy to keep his distance for this reason, and was glad that wherever he was, he was heeding to that.

"Oh god," Abby moaned under her breath but thankfully, she said nothing more.

A familiar dark-green clad figure drifted to them. "Hello, Abby, Bonnie." Hesitation. "You look amazing."

For the first time in weeks, Bonnie regarded her cousin with less than outright dislike. "Lucy." She paused, too. "You look lovely, too."

A tentative smile was shared between the younger Bennett women.

Then the bells were tolling, and they were milling up the steps to the great doors of the Temple.

As soon as Bonnie stepped in, she gasped.

The interior had been transformed. The round tables and clear glass ceiling of the morning's Congregation had been replaced by a wide open, circular ballroom. The ceiling was obscured by coloured clouds - actual clouds - floating above them. The clouds glowed, casting a soft light that was occasionally sharpened by what appeared to be streaks of lightning flashing from one cloud to the other. The lightning must have been an illusion because Bonnie heard no thunder. She glanced down, and was startled to see that the carpeted floor of earlier was now a transparent glaze-like surface. Through it, she could see the earth beneath, dark rocks like coal glowing sporadically with red flames.

She wasn't the only one impressed, if the gasps and cheers of her fellow guests were any indication. They were dressed just as decoratively as the building - women in beautiful ballroom gowns of various colours, men in GQ-sharp suits. A lot of people stood in couples and Bonnie felt a pang, imagining how it would have been if she had come here on Damon's arm.

Beams of light cut through the clouds, landing randomly on the crowd. Or so she thought at first. After a little while, she noticed that those lights fell only on certain people, and followed them wherever they moved.

She asked Abby about that. "Are those…?"

"Gemini witches," Lucy replied instead. "Everyone gets to dress up for this, even them. Since they're out of their usual black, that's how we identify them." She cleared her throat. "At anytime during the dancing, you can approach one and pass on your request. By morning, you'll get a response and that determines what's next for you in the Sollemne."

"Abby's already told me this," Bonnie said.

Lucy made a face. "I didn't know that. You don't need to bite off my head."

"I'm not-"

"I already told you that I wasn't going to call in my favour. You don't have to-"

"You're not?" Abby asked sharply. Bonnie threw Lucy an irritated look.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Well?" Abby prompted, peering hard at Lucy. "You're not asking the Gemini to break the Sleeping Curse?"

Lucy sighed, returning Bonnie's look with one of embarrassment. "No, I'm not."

Abby frowned, looking like if she wanted to say something, then chose to stay silent.

What was it now? Bonnie wondered, now eying her mother with irritation. Abby hadn't wanted the Curse broken from the start. Bonnie would have expected her mother to be delighted but instead, Abby seemed disappointed.

Just then the music started - a cadence of trumpet notes. The three women turned, trying to find the source of the sound and they noticed a grand staircase at the far side of the ballroom that Bonnie could have sworn had not been there seconds ago. With the floating clouds obscuring its landing, the steps seemed to lead straight into the sky. As Bonnie watched, choosing to stand her ground rather than follow the guests who were moving towards it, the clouds parted and a group of people appeared at the top of the steps looking down at the crowd below.

"Welcome our friends and allies," said a familiar voice as the music died down, "to our Night of Prayers."

It was not a voice that Bonnie cared for. As everyone around them - including Lucy - burst into applause, she stayed silent, her arms crossed mutinously. She noticed that Abby was standing in the same quietly rebellious way.

Despite herself, Bonnie felt a smidgen of pride at her mother.

Even if she didn't already dislike the woman so much, it was hard for Bonnie to pay attention to Micah's speech. It was an utterly uninspiring statement about the importance of unity and friendship amongst the members of the supernatural world, etc. The gist of the speech was condensed in its first few sentences; everything after that seemed to said for the sole purpose of Micah Parker revelling in the sound of her voice.

So instead, Bonnie turned her attention to the other members of Gemini royalty flanked on either side of Micah. It was the first time she had seen all of them assembled together; she seized the opportunity to study them as a whole and in turn. Standing as they did, it was easy to see the family resemblance between them, despite the differences in colouring and height.

Olivia looked lovely in the black floor-length dress Bonnie had already seen her in. She stood at the edge of the group, and she beamed down at the crowd, her usual air of indifference and boredom displaced with enthusiasm, for a change. Beside her was Joey Parker, looking devastatingly handsome in his tuxedo. He was smiling his easy-going smile, as he glanced from the crowd to his sister in turn. Micah Parker stood at the center of the group and as much as Bonnie disliked the woman, she couldn't deny that she knew how to rock a halter-necked gown in what appeared to be her favourite colour - gold. On either side of her stood her tall, blond daughters who wore sky-blue and rose-pink sweetheart-neck-lined dresses in the same style. They stood poised but unsmiling. Bonnie couldn't tell from her far distance, but she had a strong guess that that haughtiness was a mask for shyness.

One twin stood next to Joey, while the other stood beside a sandy-haired teenage boy in a tux. Sandy-haired and lanky, he was in the awkward stage of adolescence - knobby elbows and long limbs - but Bonnie could see potential there even though, by the way he ducked his head, he probably didn't. He stood by a petite redhead who seemed, by Bonnie's estimate, to be in her early thirties. Her green and black mini-dress would have been more appropriate on someone with a less buxom figure. As it stood, she looked more slutty than elegant. She preened, waving one hand at the crowd while the other red-tipped hand was draped on the arm of the man standing next to her. That was Kai Parker. Bonnie had already seen him in a suit - at the motel when she was kidnapped by Travellers - so there was no news there that he cleaned up nice. Although, she thought, he could have done without the tacky arm-candy.

She also thought that he was staring at her, his face unreadable, as his gray-blue eyes pierced across the distance to pick her out from the crowd. But that must have been her imagination, surely.

"So that's the ruling family of the Gemini coven," she murmured under her breath. Despite herself, she was impressed. Standing before the crowd, in the seat of their power, auras unchecked, and bouncing off each other exponentially, they were a formidable presence.

Lucy was actually listening to Micah's speech and didn't hear, but her mother did.

"Yes, they are. For as long as the coven has stood."

 _How's that possible?_ Bonnie wondered again but that was a question for another time. Rather she asked, "I know K… Malachai, Olivia, Joe, Micah, her daughters - although I don't know their names. But who are the others?"

"Micah's twenty-one-year old twins are Josette and Martha. The boy's Ben, Michael Parker's first born. How time flies. He must have turned eighteen recently. That's how old he would need to be to attend."

"Who's Michael… Wait, you mean there're more?" Bonnie asked, startled. "How many children exactly did their parents have?"

"Eight."

" _What_?" Bonnie bit back a shriek. "I mean - with all due respect but… _what_?"

Abby fought a smile. "Strength in numbers is their unofficial family motto. Considering how many survived, it's proven to be wise." A small cloud passed across her face, so quickly that Bonnie had barely registered it before Abby went on, her face and voice neutral. "Michael was born two years after Micah. He died when the coven fought the Travellers. He left three children, Ben is the oldest. That's his widow, their mother, standing next to Malachai. Susannah O'Lyn."

The widow in question didn't look like if she was in mourning, Bonnie couldn't help noticing. And if the talons she was digging into her brother-in-law were any indication, she wasn't planning to stay a widow for long.

Bonnie shook her head in disgust. Micah was still talking, on a roll, judging by the enthusiasm of the crowd who cheered and applauded at intervals. Her family showed their own support by nodding in turns, and a couple of them even cracked a smile once awhile. Joseph even clapped.

Bonnie seized the opportunity of her mom's garrulous mood to ask about the ages of the family members.

"Olivia and Lucas are about two years older than you, Bonnie, give or take a few months. Olivia is the younger twin."

Lucas… Luke.

Bonnie remembered Olivia's outburst:

 _"Well, he's not dead but he might as well be. Or rather we might as well be for all he cares."_

"Why isn't Luke Parker here?"

"The official story is that he went on sabbatical after their great war with the Travellers."

"What's the unofficial story?"

"Like any sane person, he despised Malachai and didn't want to be a part of any coven that had him as its leader." If Abby noticed Bonnie's sharp glance, she chose to ignore it. "Joseph is three years older, and before him was Naomi, older by a year."

"Another absent sibling?"Bonnie queried. "Is she on _sabbatical_ too?"

"She's dead," Abby said quietly. "She… died young."

"Oh," Bonnie said quietly. Two dead siblings. Her mother's earlier words - how many survived - suddenly made sense. She felt her own heart clench with sympathy.

"There's a wide gap of almost ten years between her and the late Michael Parker. As I told you, Micah is in the middle in age between him and the first set of twins, Malachai and Josette. Jo was the first-born child of Joshua and Martha Parker."

So that made Kai the _oldest_ brother! But how was it possible that he looked younger than Micah and Joseph both? That he barely even looked older than Olivia?

And he was a twin! Academically, she had been aware that for Kai to be the Gemini leader, he had to be a twin. It had just never struck home until now. So there was a female version of him in existence, Bonnie mused.

Then the rest of her mother's words registered.

"Jo _was_?"

"She died shortly after Naomi."

 _Three dead?_

Bonnie started, turning to stare at Abby's wrathful face. Up until then, her mother's voice had been even-toned but with the last statement, it had turned harsh, the words forced through teeth gritted shut with rage.

"How?" Bonnie asked.

Her mother closed her eyes, and drew in a sharp breath, visibly trying to control herself.

"Abby?" Bonnie prompted.

Abby opened her eyes. She regarded Bonnie with a pensive look in her brown eyes, as if she was considering whether or not to answer. She finally seemed to come to a decision, and opened her mouth to speak…

… when the crowd around them broke into the loudest cheering yet. Bonnie looked around - surely it had to have been more than Micah's speech that whipped up the guests? - and she realized, with surprise, that it was snowing. Only it was magical snow, gold not white, and instead of falling on the guests and covering their fancy clothes with cold water, it either fell on the floor, and vanished through the transparent glaze, or it landed on outstretched palms. When it did, the guests squealed or shouted with glee.

"Tacky," Abby muttered, keeping her arms tightly folded around her body.

Bonnie stretched out a hand to catch a hand of golden snow… and watched as the snow morphed into a palmful of gold beads.

"Leprechaun gold," Lucy cooed, stuffing her purse as she appeared back at Bonnie's side.

"Isn't that supposed to be a metaphor for counterfeit money?" Bonnie murmured, but there wasn't any bite in her voice. She stretched out her other hand and caught more. The gold seemed to shimmer with colours as she moved her hand in the cloud-light.

 _Pretty._

"The Gemini know how to win people with party tricks," Abby said ominously.

Lucy laughed. "Can you stop being a wet blanket for one night, cousin?" she teased.

Abby sniffed. "Excuse me. I think I need a drink." She wandered off to the far side of the ball where Bonnie spied what looked like a waterfall.

 _Huh?_

"Don't even bother denying you're impressed," Lucy dared, turning her teasing to Bonnie.

It was on the tip of Bonnie's tongue to lash out something about how she couldn't enjoy a party that she was figuratively forced at gun-point to attend… but she took pity on her cousin's hopeful face. Instead, she nodded towards the Parkers who were now descending the steps as a group. "So what's next? When will people come forward with their requests?"

The Parkers were making their way slowly across the floor, their group disbanding as they broke off into smaller groups, to return the attentions of the crowd that was pressing greetings to them. Bonnie noticed that Micah stopped to hold court, while Kai seemed to slip through the crowd, and away from the red-headed Susannah. Unlike the rest of his family and their coven, there was no perpetual spotlight on him. After a moment, Bonnie lost sight of him.

"No one 'comes forward'. We'd be here all night and can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if your request was turned down in full view of everyone?"

"Wasn't that how it was done here up until a few years ago?" intoned a vaguely familiar voice from behind them.

Both women turned to see Vincent Griffin standing with a grin on his face, a champagne flute in his hand, and a tuxedo that fitted his body like a second skin. All he needed was to swap the flute for a rose, and he'd have stepped out of an episode of The Bachelor's Ultimate Edition.

"Hello, ladies," he said smoothly. "Great party, isn't it? Makes me wonder why I never came all this time."

"Well, like you said," Davina Claire declared - and Bonnie started at the sight of the petite witch - "until a few years ago, it was a stuffy bore. Thank goodness for new blood."

Bonnie didn't know what confused her more - Davina's statement, the gist of which had completely gone over Bonnie's head - or the fact that the younger girl was talking at her in an almost friendly manner.

Lucy, probably realizing her cousin's first dilemma, explained. "Revamping the Night of Prayers was one of Kai's new changes as Ruler. He felt that this should be a night of fun."

As if on cue, the music started again but this time it wasn't haunting instrumentals but something more contemporary. Around them, guests made sounds of amused approval, and Bonnie and the others started edging towards the side of the hall to make room for the people that were taking to the floor.

She and the others exchanged hilarious glances - no doubt everyone was thinking the same thing: how it was odd to hear Beyonce belting out 'Crazy In Love' in a setting like this.

"Not exactly what I had in mind when I wore this monkey suit," Vincent quipped, making a show of yanking at his cravat, but his eyes were twinkling. "Although Davina is enjoying herself."

The young girl, who looked every bit her age in her prom-style pink dress, was bouncing on her feet and humming.

Once again, Bonnie was struck with amazement at how differently the tween witch was behaving now.

Lucy laughed. "I love Queen B but there's a time and place-"

"Speak for yourself."

Bonnie tensed as another - far more familiar - presence approached their small group.

Nora Hildegarde was dressed in a lovely ivory mini-dress with a sweetheart neckline that did wonders for her figure. Her short hair hung loosely against her face. Besides her, Mary Louise, who must have let her wife pick out her outfit for a change, was not looking half-bad in a navy-blue dress in a matching style.

"I, for one, think that Beyonce is a classic," Nora continued. She caught Bonnie's eye.

The tension slipped out of Bonnie as she and Nora exchanged a private look, no doubt remembering a particular song dear to their hearts.

It appeared that her earlier anger and irritation at Bonnie had dissipated.

And - despite everything - the same also went for Bonnie.

No matter how hard it had been to hear Nora's words about Damon, Bonnie had never doubted that Nora had said them with what she _believed_ were good intentions.

Mary Louise cleared her throat and startled, Bonnie and Nora broke their rather intense staring. With a blush, Bonnie realized that she had just been literally gazing into the eyes of someone else's wife in full sight of her cousin and the NOLA Regent and his ward, all of whom had been watching on with interest.

While she was supposed to be projecting the image of a distraught fiancee, tethering on the edge of instability and vengefulness!

Trying to gather her poise, Bonnie glanced around her, looking for a change of topic. Her eyes caught Mary Louise's, filled with bitterness.

Bonnie winced and turned to her cousin. "Er… Lucy, maybe you can show me where to get a drink…"

Vincent stepped forward and placed a warm hand on Bonnie's arm. "Why don't I take you? Then after that drink, we can hit the floor."

She eyed his hand with surprise. "My cousin will-"

"But the whole point of this thing is for the various supernatural groups to get to know each other, after all."

"I thought the whole point was to trade favours with the Gemini?" Nora retorted.

Bonnie noted, with some amusement, that the dark-haired heretic was eyeing Vincent's hold on Bonnie with distaste.

"Semantics," Vincent quipped. He pressed his suit - and his grip. "Bonnie?"

Bonnie sighed. He really was gorgeous. But as flattering as it was to have a guy that looked like Vincent Griffin flirt with her, dancing with him would be a waste of her limited time. "Thanks but I already promised someone a first dance."

He raised an eyebrow at that, and watched with a knowing smile as Bonnie shrugged him off, and made a beeline for the heretics…

And took Mary Louise's arm.

"Shall we?" Bonnie asked with a winning smile, ignoring Nora's double take and everyone else's look of confusion.

Mary Louise herself followed Bonnie numbly, too startled to refuse.

* * *

"What do you want?"

Mary Louise had eventually recovered, and now she was eyeing Bonnie distrustfully.

Thankfully, 'Crazy In Love' had ended - Bonnie didn't think she could survive any more of Mary Louise's weird dance moves - and now the song had changed to something slower. It suited the blonde heretic more and Bonnie was almost enjoying herself.

Nora had tried to claim her wife, but Bonnie had held onto Mary Louise tightly. "We're bonding, Nora. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

"I… I…" Nora stammered, completely confused by this turn of events.

"Scram," Bonnie said helpfully, and twirled Mary Louise away.

"Is this a ploy to get Nora's attention?" Mary Louise probed.

"I don't need ploys to get Nora's attention," Bonnie remarked simply.

The heretic coloured, her face filling with hurt and anger, and she tried to twist away.

Bonnie held on, feeling a smite of contrition. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong. Stop wriggling Mary Louise. You're making a scene."

Mary Louise stopped at that, and rigidly continued to dance.

"You and I have never got along but you still helped until … Damon goofed." It took Bonnie some effort to say the last two words. Not because they weren't true. But because saying his name out loud, with everything going on at the moment, was painful.

"So dancing with me is… an apology?"

"I'm never going to apologise to you," Bonnie said curtly. "You called me a slut."

The red in Mary Louise's face darkened. "Perhaps, I was a bit… overwrought."

Bonnie scoffed. "A bit?"

The heretic actually cracked a tiny smile.

Well, who would have guessed? The Little Miss Bitch might have a heart after all. It was good to know that Nora hadn't shackled herself to someone with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

"If you were in my place, won't you have been equally overwrought?"

Bonnie was about to vehemently shoot that down when the scenario flashed across her eyes.

Bonnie taking dangerous risks to save… an old flame of Damon's while someone - Lucy - mocked her for it.

 _"…Bonnie, it seems like your husband cares a lot more about saving Elena's decidedly magnificent ass than he does about keeping you safe…"_

She snapped out of it almost at once, but the poison had already seeped in a little. Her insides felt cold.

She forced a bright smile on her face, and tried to focus on Mary Louise's tentative smile.

"I suppose it's past time that we buried our differences," Mary Louise offered gently.

"You think?" Bonnie asked, and this time her smile was genuine.

Still smiling shyly, Mary Louise looked over Bonnie's shoulder, then turned to her with an exasperated expression. "Much as I am enjoying this, I think we should part after this dance so I can return to my spouse and you can attend to Vincent Griffin."

Bonnie snorted. "Seriously? I'm engaged." She lifted her hand from the other woman's waist to flash her ring.

"Oh, so that's it," Mary Louise declared triumphantly. "Dancing with me has nothing to do with reconciliation, and everything to do with your attempt to dissuade the long line of suitors vying for your attention."

"W-what?"

"Let me offer you my condolences, then because it seems to have had the opposite effect. The handsome men who are so eager to pay court to you have only become more intrigued by the sight of us together." She tilted her head.

Bonnie twirled to follow her gaze. There did seem to be an unusual amount of masculine eyes gazing at the two women with rapt attention. Unusual because they weren't the only same-sex pair on the floor - Bonnie saw a married werewolf couple, and wasn't that Jeremy dancing with one of his fellow Hunters? He threw her a wink that she pretended not to notice. Hayley Marshall, Freya Mikaelson and Davina Claire were dancing together in a ridiculous jig that was making people nearby cheer.

She also caught a glimpse of Nora, dancing with Olivia Parker while constantly twisting her head to keep Mary Louise and Bonnie in her sights. There was a half-wary, half – and there was really no other word for it – turned-on look on her face that Bonnie didn't even want to attempt to analyze.

But the most compelling gaze seemed to come from the dark-haired man parked beside the drinks waterfall, talking to her mother. Neither seemed happy to be doing so. For a moment, Bonnie locked eyes with Kai Parker - and even from across the hall, she could see the suspicion glinting his gray-blue eyes - then she let Mary Louise twirl her away.

The heretic was smiling wryly. "I told you, didn't I? I daresay it's an improvement in society. A century ago, lesbians were locked up in mental institutions and 'cured' by torture. In this contemporary times, lesbians are ogled for male mastubatory fantasies."

"Ew…" Bonnie almost barfed in her mouth. "Double ew! Neither is better."

Mary Louise's eyes were mocking. "Offer your opinion after you have experienced both."

Bonnie's reply was caught off by a sudden lull in the music, and both turned to see that one of the beams of light that fell on the Gemini witches was glowing with a greater intensity. As they watched, a woman that looked like a banshee was receiving a pink rose from the witch.

"Ah, the first prayer," Mary Louise murmured.

"Is that how it's done?" Bonnie asked, intrigued.

"Yes," the heretic confirmed as the woman slipped her rose into her purse pocket and walked away from the witch. The light above the witch dimmed back to its normal luminosity. Seconds later, three more lights glowed across the ball. "And now that someone's broken the ice, the others are following. It's simple, really. You approach a Gemini witch with a prayer… the favour you're requesting. You can say the prayer out loud, but it's usually written down. In exchange, you are given a coloured rose. By next morning, if the rose has turned black, then your favour was granted. If it turned white, then it was rejected."

"Odd choice of colours," Bonnie noted.

"It used to be more conventional. Kai's sense of humour is… unusual." There was an almost fond smile on Mary Louise's face as she said that.

Bonnie studied the heretic. There was no way that Nora could be in love with, or have any kind of amorous feelings for Kai Parker, and Mary Louise would be smiling like this at the thought of the man.

"You and Nora are quite close to the Gemini leader."

"We'd have to be otherwise his coven would have long persuaded him to have us destroyed," Mary Louise said bitterly.

Bonnie was surprised. "You think Kai would do that?"

She shrugged. "Nora's the one in his inner circle, not I. I, he locked up for years in a Prison World like so much riff-raff. I'd still be rotting in there if not for her." Her face softened. "But she speaks highly of him, more than I've seen her do of anyone else. If Nora likes him, I daresay I can tolerate him."

"Well, you're married. If she's in his inner circle, then you practically are. I doubt that there's anything she knows that you don't," Bonnie remarked, casually.

Not casually enough for Mary Louise whose eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Close enough. And don't even think of trying to pump me for information. Nora already told me what you did."

Rats.

"Mary Louise-"

"So that's what this was about. A chance to use me since you had failed with my wife. So much for your peace offering," the heretic snarled. Once again, she tried to get away and once again, Bonnie held firm. "I do not care about not making a scene. I shall do -"

"And do you know what I shall to do?" Bonnie hissed. "I shall walk up to Nora and ask her for a dance…"

"My wife will never help you against Kai…"

"Who said anything about asking for her help?" Bonnie countered, her voice as sweet as poisonous fruit. "I can get help elsewhere. No, it won't be about pumping Nora for information. It would be about stealing her from you."

Mary Louise stopped struggling, but she didn't continue to dance either. She just stood there, staring at Bonnie with increasing anger.

Bonnie took her hand again, and forced her into step. "Stop making it so obvious that it won't be very hard."

"Y… you…"

" _You what_ , Mary Louise? Call me a slut again and I promise you…"

"Nora will never go back to you. Nora loves _me_."

"Does she?" Bonnie wondered. She remembered an offer to run away made after a heated night many years ago. An offer that was made before Nora went West to fight for the Gemini and bargain for her long-time girlfriend.

But Bonnie decided to keep that bit of ammunition for later. There were smaller, but just as effective guns in her arsenal.

"Because Damon was right, you know. About her taking all those risks to save me."

"Nora would do that for any of her friends…"

"Friends she's slept with?" Bonnie asked coolly.

After another angry glare, Mary Louise bowed her head. But not before Bonnie noticed the shine in her eyes.

Bonnie's conscience smote her but she couldn't stop. She had to do this, for Damon's sake.

She had stabbed.

Now to twist the knife.

"You just mentioned how hard it was to be anything other than heterosexual in your time. How women had to hide who they were, how they loved. I can't even imagine how much you risked to even acknowledge you were attracted to each other? How many layers you had to filter through to understand the meaning of a smile, the touch of her hand… When you think about it, how many options did you have besides her? More importantly, how many did she outside you?"

"Stop…"

"Do you know that you and I are the only two women Nora's ever slept with? And not for lack of wanting, I can tell you. I've seen that girl flirt up a storm at a Ladies' Club."

"Stop."

"I wonder just how much of her feelings for you are based on love, and how much are based on familiarity, on obligation…"

The heretic raised her gaze to Bonnie's. Her face was streaked with tears. Her eyes were glazed over with hate. But her words were filled with defeat.

"Tell me what you want."

* * *

The song was over and Bonnie had finally made her way to the waterfall. It was another delightful magical creation and it seemed to yield whatever drink was requested by mere thought.

The temptation of a stiff drink to smother her conscience was strong. But instead, Bonnie asked for a lime and soda. She needed a clear head.

It was not the first time she had done something morally questionable for the man she loved. Heck, she had been doing morally questionable things for Damon long before they had even _liked_ each other.

You'd think that by now she'd be used to it.

She drifted to the edge of the hall, watching everyone else. The music had turned classical. The two heretics were dancing now: Nora was beaming, clearly pleased, probably at the thought of her ex-girlfriend and wife getting along. Mary Louise was smiling, apparently enraptured at the sight of her radiant wife but surely Bonnie was not the only one who saw the shades of fear in the heretic's face?

 _She'd better hold it together long enough for me to pull this off_ , Bonnie thought grimly.

Next to them, Vincent Griffin was dancing with Lucy. By Bonnie's estimation, they'd been dancing non-stop for a while now. Good. That was two birds out of the way. They spun out of her line of sight to reveal Micah Parker who had apparently stopped holding court long enough to step onto the floor with her nephew. Ben looked more awkward than ever and whatever his aunt was saying to him, was not boosting his confidence. He seemed ready to sink to the floor.

Bonnie shifted her gaze, and spotted Jeremy dancing with, of all people, Olivia Parker. Bonnie frowned at the sight, wondering just how close they were from the way they were laughing and appearing to enjoy each other's company. She would have to find out for certain if she was going to trust him with even one layer of her plans.

Across the hall, Abby and Kai Parker's terse conversation had ended - either concluded on its own terms or cut short by the arrival of Susannah O'Lyn who had claimed her brother-in-law with a grip of her red claws and drawn him into the dance floor. The music playing wasn't for a slow dance, but judging from the slithering way she moved against her brother-in-law's body, Susannah was clearly tone-deaf. Not that Kai seemed to mind, Bonnie noticed with no small disgust. Thankfully, the nauseating sight of their incestuous display was cut short when the light over Susannah started glowing brightly. As she paused mid-slink, turning round with a scowl to see the guest approaching her with a prayer, he stepped into the background and once again, Bonnie lost sight of him.

She turned back to see her mother alone. Abby was walking along the edge of the hall, patrolling it to all intents and purposes.

It was not from lack of options. Both now that she was alone, and earlier while she was talking to Kai, several people had approached Abby to dance and Abby turned them all down.

It suddenly hit Bonnie then that she knew very little about her mother's personal life. Her second husband – Jamie's father – had died over a decade ago and since then… what? Abby was gorgeous and from the double advantage of first her witch genes, then half a decade of vampirism, she looked as young as Lucy. Why had she chosen to remain a recluse, a single mother to a boy who wasn't even hers rather than seeking love again?

Would it have been easier for Bonnie to understand her mother if that was the choice she had made? If, instead of choosing to be some other child's mother, she had chosen to be another man's wife?

Or had the scars from her abandonment already run too deep? Was Bonnie too broken to be fixed?

"What's happening in that scheming head of yours now?"

 _Nothing good_ , Bonnie thought, relieved to have a distraction from her macabre thoughts. She squinted up at Jeremy. "Nothing… yet."

"Saw you and Mary Louise on the floor. You guys looked–" At Bonnie's sharp stare, the stupid grin on his face faded and he cleared his throat. "What I meant was, any luck getting the information you needed from her?"

She kept up the piercing glare for a few seconds longer just to see him sweat, before she nodded and turned back to watching the crowd. "Yep. I'll fill you in later." She still remembered his dance with Olivia Parker.

"Care to fill me in now on what the second part of your message meant? The one where you asked if I'm willing to have your back at a moment's notice."

"Nope."

"Bonnie…"

"Enchanted walls have ears. Meanwhile, you and I are supposed to be keeping our distance."

"Come on, Bon," he pleaded. "I won't push it, OK? You can tell me when you're ready. But we've been here for a while and I've danced with five different people now. Besides, people've seen us hanging out together a couple of times. Won't it be even more suspicious if we completely avoided each other?"

He had a point. But the other point that he wasn't aware of was that Bonnie needed to be playing the role of a vengeful fiancee. Would her dancing and having a generally good time fit with that image?

But she thought about that invisible piece of paper that was slipped under her door earlier and re-considered. After all, if she really was plotting to do harm to the Gemini… would she still be making it so blatantly obvious?

She put her arm through Jeremy's. "Come on, then."

It was a good song, vaguely familiar with a nice uplifting beat. Bonnie tried not to smile too much as she swayed to Jeremy's prancing figure. He had never been much of a dancer, but they'd always had a good time on the floor.

"I think this is our song," he said.

She shook her head. "We never had a song, Jeremy."

"They played it the night of the Decades Dance. The one where you went after Klalaric."

Ah. He was right, she did remember it now. "That must have been the only dance you and I ever went together."

"Tell me about it," he said with a grimace as he twirled her around. "Most of the time, you were too busy playing hero to go to parties."

That made her frown. "It wasn't by choice, Jeremy."

He shrugged as if it didn't matter. As if it was something he had felt strongly about a long time ago but now time had allowed him to move past it. As if there was no point arguing about why during the allegedly 'best years of her life', she had spent more time performing black magic and nursing nosebleeds than buying pretty clothes and going on dates with her hot boyfriend.

"I'm sorry I was too busy saving your sister's life to be a better girlfriend," Bonnie said in biting tones. "I guess that explains the whole Anna thing."

He flinched as if she had slapped him.

"That's not fair," he said quietly.

She dropped her arms to her side. The song had ended and so had their dance. "Excuse me."

She turned around - and almost stepped into Joseph Parker. The older man was looking from her to Jeremy with a look of concern on his face.

"Is everything OK here?"

"Fine," she muttered, and made to walk past him but he shifted so that he was in her way. "Excuse me?"

He cocked his head. "It's a nice song." The music had started again. "Care to dance?"

Would dancing with a member of the Gemini ruling family be seen as capitulation on her part? Or would it make her seem even more volatile, dallying so closely with her possible enemies?

The thoughts flashed through her mind in a split-second - enough time for her to make a decision and take his offered hand.

She glimpsed Jeremy's worried face before Joseph Parker twirled her away.

* * *

 **A/N** : So with Original Sin done, this is next. It won the "polls" over Yibbum by such a narrow margin (2 votes), that I'm tempted to update both of them alternatively. What do you guys think?

Also, I would like to use this opportunity to thank everyone who left feedback for the ending of Original Sin. Thanks for your support! And I'm curious - there were so many questions in the reviews - would you guys be interested in a kind of post-mortem Q & A for that story? Let me know & I'll try to organise something if enough people want one. :)

Feedback is always welcome!


	20. Bloodlines

**Chapter Twenty: Bloodlines**

When dancing with Mary Louise and Jeremy, Bonnie had stayed on the fringes, as much away from prying eyes as possible. But Joseph Parker drew her into the centre of the crowd. The lights that landed on all the Gemini witches, including him, were more concentrated there. She glimpsed Olivia Parker being whirled away by Vincent Griffin. One of Micah's daughters was dancing with Spiky Hair from the witches's assembly that morning. The other was dancing with Alex Gloriana, Jeremy's co-Hunter.

Then Bonnie caught sight of Nora dancing with a tall, dark-haired striking familiar figure, having what appeared to be the time of their life. Bonnie almost stopped dancing to stare at the sight of Kai Parker throwing back his head and laughing freely, his eyes and face open in a way she hadn't seen ever. All the previous signs of humour she'd ever glimpsed from the man had been shadowed with sarcasm, or irony, or mockery. This was pure, unadulterated pleasure.

Nora was laughing, too, her face shining up at him. With her ivory gown, his black tux, and their matching brunette coloring, they looked like something from a bridal magazine.

Something hot and ugly reared up in Bonnie's throat.

"Are you OK?" Joseph asked, speaking for the first time since their dance.

"Peachy," Bonnie replied and looked away from the dark-haired duo.

 _What is this?_ She asked herself. It must have been something she ate. Or didn't eat. She had missed meals today again. Or yesterday, she had no idea if it was already past midnight.

Apparently unconvinced, Joseph spun them around so that he could see who she had been staring at before. He looked from his brother and the heretic to Bonnie with surprise, then something that looked like mingled realization and embarrassment.

"Ah… Nora Hildegarde… looks lovely as always," he said delicately.

Bonnie stared.

He continued, his eyes not quite meeting hers, but apparently he felt whatever he had to say was important enough to overrule social awkwardness. "You danced with her wife earlier. I believe she was an old flame of yours?"

"You do?" Bonnie drawled, feeling a tickle of amusement as she followed what appeared to be his line of thought. Did he think she had been upset over _Nora_? "Dare I ask how you know the details of my romantic history?"

"Not yours. Hers." At Bonnie's disbelieving look, he shrugged. "Well, she is one of my brother's closest confidantes."

"So… you snooped into her history?"

He smiled a little. "Is it that surprising? Our coven locked her up for a century and a few years ago, we were amassing a small army to attack Mystic Falls and route her out. Then suddenly, she is an ally and hand-in-glove with Kai. Of course, I was going to be suspicious of her friendship with our new leader."

"New." Bonnie latched on that at once. "How long exactly as K… Mal… your brother been your leader?"

If he noticed her stumbling over his brother's name, he didn't mention it. "Well, it depends on how you define leader."

"Huh?"

He sighed. "Are you ready for a Gemini history lesson?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere."

He smirked, his grey eyes narrowing with mirth, and Bonnie was struck suddenly by how much he resembled his oldest brother. "I guess I'll start by asking if you know why my coven is called Gemini?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I know that much. Twins are in line to be leaders. Kai's twin was Josette." The name rolled off her tongue with so much assurance that she'd have thought she hadn't first learned it an hour ago.

He sighed with relief. "OK, that's the awkward part over with. I figured that with Abby, you should know about the Merge but… it's always hard to explain to outsiders for the first time."

 _Wait? What?_

But he had already moved on. "After the Merge, Kai was technically the leader of the coven. But he and my father had a falling out, a … a difference of opinion on how to lead the coven and Kai went on a… sabbatical. My father continued to steer the coven, acting as a sort of Regent in Kai's place. He grew old, made worse with our mother's death, so Micah took over. When Kai returned five years ago, she handed over the reins to him. So, I guess to answer your question, technically Kai's been the Leader for over twenty years but he only really started _leading_ the Coven for about fifth of that time."

Bonnie mused for a while. "This… sabbatical of his," and she imitated Joe's own pause deliberately. "Is that why he's the second oldest but he looks as young as Olivia?"

Was it her imagination or did Joseph flinch? "Yes, you could say that."

Huh. It sounded simple enough, almost boring really when explained. Which was probably why Bonnie suspected that she had just been told a load of publicity bull.

But why? More Gemini coven secrets? Secrets that her mother knew but refused to share, regardless of how much she warned Bonnie off the coven? Secrets like these Gemini sabbaticals sounded like an euphemism for something more sinister?

"Tell me about Luke."

The question threw him. He went rigid, missing his step and making her stumble. Then he checked himself, and after apologising for his bad move and she had reassured him she was fine, he chuckled slightly. "Lucas, er?"

"Yeah, he's on a sabbatical, too, isn't he? What's that about?"

"You're asking a rather curious question."

She shrugged. "Is it some sort of secret?"

"No… I just would never have suspected you to be of the curious kind."

"As you know, I'm stuck here until the end of your Ceremony whether I like it or not. Perhaps I just want to kill time."

"As long as it's not the only thing you kill."

It was her turn to be caught off guard. It was one thing for Olivia Parker, who was besties with Lucy to warn her off, it was another thing for her older brother to read Bonnie her rights. She tensed, preparing for a showdown.

But Joey Parker didn't seem menacing. His words had been said mildly. And although his face had gone stern, there was a twinkle in his eye.

"I take it you've heard the rumours?" she asked finally.

"Rumours?"

"Yes, _rumours_ ," she said firmly.

"Well, if they're just _rumours…_ " His face turned grave. "Look, I wasn't even going to bring this up. Everything I've heard about you tells me that you're a remarkable young witch, fierce and brave. A true hero. You've saved your Virginia town more times than can be counted."

Bonnie should have been flattered - would have been flattered. But his words made other words echo harshly in her head:

 _"Seems to me that town would have been destroyed ten times over, and your fiancé would have been dead ages ago if not for you – nine times out of ten at the expense of your own neck."_

 _"That hero complex of yours, sweetheart."_

As if on cue, she looked over Joseph's shoulder and saw Kai Parker a few feet away, still dancing and laughing with Nora.

Bonnie thought of herself, a few minutes ago, preying on Mary Louise's insecurities to get what she wanted.

She looked away.

"I'm not a hero," she said harshly. "And you can think what you want about me."

He raised his eyebrows at her tone but all he said was, "Well, I think you are. And I'm not going to give those rumours another moment's thought. Besides, not only were your mom and my favourite sister best friends, the last thing I want is to take Micah's side on this." He winked at her.

But Bonnie was too rattled by the memory of Kai Parker's words to be drawn into his brother's attempt at camaraderie. She changed the topic back curtly. "So what's the secret about Luke?"

He gave her a despairing look. "Didn't I already say it's not a secret? Although, I suppose, it hits rather close to home. For both of us."

Something about the way his mood suddenly changed made Bonnie feel a shiver of apprehension.

"What is it?" she asked nervously.

He paused, as if second-guessing himself, then shrugged. "Well, since you asked… When the Travellers first attacked our coven… when you released Markos…"

Bonnie gasped. "What? Are you still accusing me-"

He grasped her elbow placatingly. She had tried to move away. "No! I'm not talking about a few days ago. I'm talking about a few years ago. When Luke was in Whitmore. When you were the Anchor."

A chill swept through Bonnie as she remembered.

 _"Watch out, little witch"_

 _Her first sight of the inked feet tattoo._

 _The Traveller's knife._

 _Knives._

 _The feel of her skin being flayed off her bones._

 _"Bonnie… you need to wake up… you need to get help…"_

 _Kol Mikaelson's voice._

 _Darkness._

She shivered.

Joseph gave her a sympathetic smile, as if he realized the trauma she was reliving. "Markos came after my family, my father specifically. He knew that… he believed that killing my father would strike the heart of our coven, destabilize us, effectively end us." He paused, and pain flared across his face.

"Did… he succeed… in killing your Dad?" Bonnie whispered.

He swallowed hard.

That was her answer.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. She remembered standing in the middle of that crowd, voiceless and invisible as a man with her future-brother-in-law's face opened her father's throat. She blinked hard against the memory. Even now, so many years later, it still had so much power over her.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "I have heard… is it true that you lost your father, too?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry."

They shared a look of understanding.

 _Hello Card-Carrying Member of the Dead-Dad's Club. I am so sorry to have met you._

"So what happened after that?" she asked softly.

"Markos and the Travellers had gambled everything on one shot at the heart of our coven… and lost. My father was an old man but he wasn't easy to kill. Markos won but it was a pyrrhic victory. He was grievously injured and the downfall he hoped my father's death would cause the coven never came. He had miscalculated. Gravely. So he fled. He spent years after that trying to recover enough to face us again. But as I said, he was injured. His people were trapped in a prison world. Our coven not only survived my father's death, but my brother returned from his … sabbatical. Returned a changed man, ready to fulfill his responsibility to the coven."

Something like a shadow seemed to pass over his face, but so fleetingly that a moment later, Bonnie wondered if she had imagined it.

"Left to his own devices, Markos could never attempt to successfully attack us within five years. Heck, within fifty years. Or even fifty hundred years. But then he joined forces with Julian."

A shiver ran down Bonnie's spine at the way Joseph's voice hardened with loathing when he spoke the vampire's name. She didn't blame him. While Nora Hildegarde had undefined feelings towards her foster father turned enemy, Bonnie had never seen anything other than the cruel, vicious side of the late Lily Salvatore's paramour.

"Somehow… somewhere… Julian managed to do the impossible. He, a vampire, found a way to liberate prisoners from a Gemini Prison World. He later died before we could find out how he did this, if he had help… But the important thing then was that Markos's Travellers were free and he, Julian and his heretics launched a campaign against our coven."

With that he looked meaningfully over her shoulder. Bonnie turned to see that he was staring at Mary Louise who was now dancing with an unfamiliar vampire.

"Nora I understood. She fought for us, but Mary Louise? I fear that my brother might've been overly sentimental."

Kai? Sentimental? Bonnie would never have thought that was a word that anyone would use to describe the man. But then again - as she spied him now dancing with Nora - what did she know of him at all?

As if he could read her mind, he looked up then. For a moment, she caught his laughing face in full - his eyes shining in her direction. Then he blinked, as if taking in the sight of her, and the laughter vanished like a switch. He stared from her, to his brother, then back at her, his face darkening.

Then Joseph spun her, and Nora pulled Kai, and they were out of each other's sights.

And Bonnie now blinked around her in confusion, wondering what had just happened? The whole moment with Kai had felt long, but it must have happened in seconds. Had she imagined the whole thing?

Joseph was still speaking and it took her a while to catch the thread of his words. "Maybe it was a small price to pay. When my brother Mike and his family were attacked, it was Nora and Valerie Tulle that protected his wife and children, got them to safety. Mike, himself, didn't make it…" His face darkened with fleeting sadness. "But if not for the heretics, his whole family would have been lost, as well. And that went across board for the entire coven. We would have sustained heavier losses if Nora and Valerie had not fought alongside us. Don't tell Micah I said this," and he gave Bonnie a conspiratorial nod, "but I'm not sure we would have won without the help of those two."

He went on. Bonnie recognized the rest of the story. It was basically a retelling of what Nora had explained to her earlier that same day. It was interesting hearing it from a different perspective, but the two stories were all but identical.

"Markos and his Travellers were banished to a Prison World by my brother to live out eternity until we devised a means of obliterating them. Julian was already dead, and the surviving heretics were punished severely. Our coven, which was fractured over the death of my father, and return of my brother, emerged from the ordeal united and stronger. We didn't just survive the Travellers, we triumphed."

 _And we all lived happily ever after_ , Bonnie finished for him in her head. _But._ "But now the Travellers are back…"

He sighed heavily but his demeanour was mostly confident. "As far as I can see, this is a stupid attempt, born out of pride than anything tangible. They couldn't defeat us years ago when they had greater numbers and heretics on their side. In fact, I can tell you now that what bothers me the most about this business is not whether Markos is freed or not. What bothers me is that there is a traitor amongst our own… amongst our guests."

Bonnie noticed the pause. Caught it with her sharp ears and keen attention. But he avoided her inquisitive gaze, and fell silent, suddenly concentrating on the dancing.

"Well, I'm not the traitor," she quipped.

He smiled slightly. "I never really thought you were, Miss Bennett."

"Mmm…" She sniffed. "Tell your sister that."

He winced, embarrassed. "I'm deeply sorry about Micah. Like I told you, she was in charge for a long time. She's still … adjusting. And, since Kai is unmarried and childless, Micah's daughters are his heirs and she's potentially the mother of our future leader. And that knowledge makes it even harder for her … adjustment." He chuckled ruefully. "And now, I'm boring you with all this talk about the politics of my family…"

"No, you're not. I actually find it quite interesting."

He gave her a skeptical look. "Well, I've sort of wandered around the place to answer your question about Luke."

"Indeed." Bonnie recovered quickly, having almost forgotten herself that she had started out wanting to know about Olivia's twin, the absent Parker wizard.

"During my brother Kai's sabbatical-"

He paused mid-sentence, staring up. Bonnie followed his gaze with her eyes. She was surprised to notice that the light that had perpetually followed him all throughout the evening was glowing brighter than before. That could only mean…

She and Joseph but lowered their gaze in time to see Finn Mikaelson walking up to them.

Joseph released Bonnie halfway, stepping slightly away from her but keeping his arm around her waist. The tall, blond Original had been making a beeline to the Gemini witch; but he paused when he noticed Bonnie, his blue eyes sweeping her up from the top of her elegant up-do, down the cerulean-clad figure, to her sapphire high-heels. He bowed low from his waist.

"Miss Bennett, it's a great pleasure to meet you this evening," he said courteously.

She raised her eyebrows, startled at such civility from a Mikaelson. "If you say so," she retorted, not easily forgetting how Damon's brawl with this man that first morning was what, arguably, started this whole series of unfortunate events.

Rather than be offended at her curtness, Finn Mikaelson's stern face seemed to soften at her, before turning to Joseph Parker.

He bowed again. Joseph Parker returned it.

Finn retrieved a white card from his pocket and offered it to the Gemini. _"Exaudi orationem meam."_

 _Hear my prayer._

Joseph collected the card, his face blank, and as Bonnie watched, it vanished in his hand and a green-petalled rose appeared in its place.

 _"Audivimus,"_ he said in formal tones.

 _It is heard._

Finn collected the rose and pocketed it. "Thank you," he said. Then hesitated.

"Is there anything else?" Joseph asked, his face and voice still blank.

She could only guess at this - but Bonnie got the distinct impression that Joseph was carefully hiding his dislike of the vampire before him.

"Another request," Finn said soberly. To Bonnie's utter surprise, he stretched out a hand to her. "I'd like a dance with Miss Bennett here."

Joseph and Bonnie exchanged the same look of surprise.

"Really?" Joseph said flatly, a tint of irritation slipping into his voice. "We're in the 21st century, man, if you want to dance with a woman, you ask her."

Finn actually seemed to think about this for a while, as he looked at Bonnie.

Before he could open his mouth, she was already saying, "I don't think s…"

"Joey darling, there you are! I knew there was one brother I hadn't danced with yet!"

All three - Bonnie, Joseph and Finn Mikaelson - turned at the sound of that sultry, Texas-accented drawl to see Susannah Parker swaying towards them.

The moment she reached them, she sank her red-tipped talons in Joseph's elbow - Bonnie could have sworn the man winced - and gave Bonnie a piercing once-over.

"Why, isn't it little Bonnie Bennett?"

Bonnie blinked. " _Little_?"

Susannah smiled, her brown eyes wide and guileless. "I remember how excited Josie was whenever she got a chance to babysit you. Such a darling little baby girl. Made us all so eager to follow your mom's footsteps and get a nice man to give us some beautiful babies."

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak - but no words came out. So she shut it.

"And now look at you, all sweet and sugary in your belle blue gown. Why, isn't she the cutest thing you ever saw, Joey?"

"Ah… I… It was lovely dancing with you, Miss Bennett."

The tips of Joseph's ears had turned red. But was it out of embarrassment for his weird-ass sister-in-law or because he agreed with her outrageous statement about Bonnie?

Whatever it was, it made him take a firm hold of Susannah and waltz her away in the blink of an eye.

"So long, BonBon!" she tweeted before she vanished in the crowd.

And then Bonnie herself was moving, swept in the opposite direction as, caught off guard, she had allowed Finn Mikaelson to claim the next dance.

* * *

Bonnie recovered her equilibrium soon enough and spent a few moments contemplating whether the look on Finn Mikaelson's face when she ran her heel into his foot and left him hopping and abandoned on the dance floor was worth the scene it would cause.

As tempting as she imagined it, Bonnie abandoned the idea. She had already used up her quota of scenes tonight.

"You've got some nerve," she said to Finn anyway.

"For dancing with a beautiful woman?" he asked seriously.

Bonnie scoffed. "After what you pulled with my fiance the last time? You have some nerve forcing me into this dance."

He smiled a little. "I was defending a friend. Your gallant fiance didn't hesitate to try to hit a woman."

Bonnie scoffed again. "Hitting a werewolf, you mean. Who, if I might remind you, hit him first. Who is more a danger to a vampire than the other way around. Besides, if you're talking about the same Hayley Marshall that I remember, she's far from innocent."

"But you are?" he asked, his eyes shrewd.

She opened her mouth to snap back an affirmation - then shut it, her own thoughts of earlier echoing in her head.

" _I'm not a hero."_

They danced for a while in cold silence. As she waited for the song to end, Bonnie looked to his side in order to avoid his face, for more reasons than one.

It was odd. The oldest Michaelson son was the antithesis of the youngest. Finn was all fair-head and stern austerity while Kol had been dark-haired and mischievous, the vampire's answer to Peter Pan. But the family resemblance was strong - similar build, same cheekbones and chin; they even held Bonnie the same way; this slow dance brought buried painful memories to the surface.

Bonnie shivered and focused her gaze elsewhere. It found Hayley Marshall and Davina Claire, no longer laughing and carefree, but standing by the waterfall with their eyes sharp on her and Finn. Bonnie gave them a haughty glance before they spun out of view. Her mother was now in her sights, standing with Lucy, both women talking rapidly with their heads bent. That made Bonnie frown, wondering what that was about. Abby had better not be confiding her plans with Lucy.

Then she spun again, and suddenly she gazing into a pair of intense eyes across the room. Kai Parker had ended his dance with Nora and now stood with his family - Micah and her daughters. His sister was doing most of the talking, her daughters adding only short sentences into the conversation. Kai was silent throughout, his face grave, but whether at what Micah was saying or at the sight of Bonnie dancing with Finn Mikaelson, Bonnie didn't know. She held his gaze for a moment longer than was safe, and felt that familiar charge rock through her.

She shuddered and was glad when Finn spun her away again.

"What is the matter? You seem alarmed," Finn said.

She started. He'd been quiet for so long.

"I am fine," she answered stiffly.

"Mmm…" He was staring at her rather critically. "Can I give you some advice, Miss Bennett?"

"No."

He smiled. "The question was rhetorical."

Bonnie snorted.

"You know, of course, that I knew your ancestor. Ayana and my mother were dearest friends. She was something of a mentor to me. I could be the same to you, if you would like."

A bubble of hysterical laughter threatened to escape Bonnie. "Er… no, thank you?" was all she could manage. It crossed her mind that he was joking, but one look up at his serious, slightly offended face and she decided against that.

"Think about my offer before you wave it out of hand. I might be a vampire now but when I was a witch, I was regarded as extraordinarily skilled for my age. And if your history is of any indication, you are sorely in need of guidance."

"Oh, am I?" Bonnie retorted. "You would know all about history, won't you? You spent - what? - 900 years in a coffin, right? It's practically your only area of expertise."

"Now, you are being childish."

Bonnie scoffed and stayed silent. When was this song going to end anyway? They happened to fall alongside Jeremy and the female Hunter he was dancing with. He locked eyes with Bonnie, then raised his eyebrows at her, angling his head towards Finn.

His message was clear - 'Want me to cut in?'

She made a face, but shook her head. She didn't need rescuing from Finn Mikaelson.

Jeremy gave her a commiserating grin, and danced along.

Finn exhaled loudly then, and Bonnie looked up at him, then turned her head to follow his gaze. Her heart slammed in her chest as she saw a dreadful sight - Freya Mikaelson approaching Micah Parker with a square card in her hand. The Gemini witch took the card, her face unsmiling, and gave Freya a blue rose in return.

Bonnie looked around for Kai Parker who had been standing with his sister a moment ago, but he was nowhere in sight.

She glanced up at Finn, considering. The more they had spoken, the less he had reminded her of his brother. And she was curious, earnestly so.

"What is Freya praying for?"

"What else? She's asking for Kol's release."

It was as Bonnie feared. Her heart slammed again.

"Kol is dead," Bonnie said, the words harsh in her throat and she forced herself to breathe through the sudden panic that threatened to grip her.

"So we've been told." Finn shrugged. "But his last death took him to a Gemini Prison World and he came back. Who knows? My sister has hope."

"That's not what she told me this morning," Bonnie muttered. Internally, she was reminding herself that when the Other Side was destroyed, the only reason why Kol Mikaelson had escaped Oblivion was because he latched himself to her and Damon. He took advantage of the exit that Sheila Bennett had created for Bonnie. The second time he died, that situation did not exist. He was gone for good.

He had to be.

"She has given up on finding him with her own considerable magical abilities. But she hasn't quite given up the idea of him being alive. I would have told her not to waste her time with the Gemini. It was Kol who brought back the heretics from 1903. Kol who broke into that Prison World in the first place. For that reason alone - even if he was in one of their Prison Worlds - they would never help her find him."

"So why don't you tell her that?" Bonnie asked harshly.

Finn shrugged. "Because Freya is determined to restore as many of our family as possible. I escaped Oblivion because of the nature of my death and Freya revived me; but after the Cure, Elijah, Niklaus, and Rebekah died as witches. Just as poor little Henrik did all those centuries ago. The Other Side is destroyed. Like our parents, they are gone forever. Kol is Freya's last chance. My sister is sentimental. She was taken from us as a child - I am, indeed, the only one of our family that even has a memory of her. She didn't grow up with us, under Mikael's bitter discipline. She has no idea of how selfish, disloyal and utterly loathsome our siblings became over the centuries." As Bonnie stared, surprised at the bitterness in his voice, he shrugged. "But who am I to disabuse her of her idealism? Her dreams are harmless so I let her have them."

"You… don't want your brother back? Your family?"

He frowned. "Why should I? Niklaus, my _half_ -brother - the _bastard_ product of my mother's shame, locked me up for centuries and Elijah and Rebekah, my full-blooded siblings, did nothing. I was released only to be murdered weeks later by a mere _human_ and what did the great Originals, the most fearsome creatures in the supernatural world do?"

Bonnie said nothing. She already knew this answer.

"They let my murderers go unpunished. The fearsome Niklaus. The honourable Elijah who meted Justice like the blind-folded deity herself. Rebekah, my beloved, spoilt little sister who stopped at nothing to get her own way. They watched me die, and they did nothing to avenge me."

" _I watched my family mourn my death, little witch. For a whole twenty-four hours. It was touching. Then Klaus was sniffing around that empty-headed vampire friend of yours like the proverbial wolf in heat. Rebekah's tears barely marred her makeup before she was running across the country with the doppel-floozy. Did you know Elijah wrote Elena Gilbert an apology letter? Elena? The doppel-bint held me down while her brother staked me and my own brother_ apologized _to her?"_

" _Why shouldn't he? Do you know how much your family did to her? She had lost her brother because of them. Her Aunt Jenna was killed by Klaus. Uncle John died as well. All because of your family."_

" _Her brother died because Jeremy Gilbert was hellbent on getting the Cure for his bloody sister! Jenna Sommers's and John Gilbert's deaths are as much to blame on Damon Salvatore as they are on my family! Oh, I did my research, love. Got caught up on all the details of the goings-on in Mystic Falls. I knew soon enough that I was dealing with a pack of doppelganger-obsessed fanatics but I didn't think I would find a Bennett witch in their midst. Again. History does tend to repeat itself."_

" _Says the man who knows nothing about friendship. About love. About family, even."_

" _Says the girl who gave up her own life to protect her friends, to bring back to life the boy that stepped out on her with a bleeding ghost! You know so much about friends and love, do you? Look around you, darling. Where are your friends? Do they even know you're dead?"_

She had hated him so much. His constant presence mocking her, taunting her, rubbing her death and isolation into her face every chance he got. She had clung to Jeremy like a lifeline then. In his presence, Kol had receded, faded into the background. Whether because of some obscure magical law or by his own choice, Bonnie never knew. For a long time, she had assumed the former. But now… now, she realized that she would never know which it was.

For a long time, she had thought she knew everything there was to know about Kol Mikaelson.

But apparently, she hadn't.

"Your brother Kol said something like that to me once," Bonnie said quietly. "A long time ago."

Finn's demeanour went from bitter to knowing. "He would have, won't he? An attempt to make you feel sympathy for him?"

Bonnie shook her head. "More of an attempt to justify wanting to murder his family."

Finn smiled. "Ah, Kol. Perpetually stuck in adolescence. He never got a chance to refine his methods of courtship."

Bonnie almost tripped in the middle of the dance. Finn's grip kept her balance. "What?"

He couldn't know. Kol had sworn, promised that no one ever would.

And what kind of fool was she that she still believed he had kept his word?

"Come on, Miss Bennett. I'm not denying that anything Kol said about his intentions for my family was untrue. But you shouldn't deny either that he was fixated on you."

"Fixated," Bonnie rasped. "More like obsessed with destroying me." But even as she said it, she knew she didn't fully believe that. Not anymore.

Finn's smile turned mocking. "Destroying you? On the contrary, Miss Bennett. Kol would never have returned to New Orleans if he had believed he even had a fraction of a smidgen of hope at earning your forgiveness. Or more."

She felt the blood rise in her face, but she refused to let her embarrassment show. If Finn knew then he knew and it was up to her to desperately salvage her tattered dignity. "You know so much about Kol's frame of mind considering you were in-"

"-a coffin. Yes, Miss Bennett, you've used that barb already. And yes, I do know about his frame of mind where you are concerned. You forget that we both met you for the first time before my death. Standing across that fire with your mother. Young, beautiful. Powerful. Threatening to destroy him." Something almost like fondness crossed his face. "The combination must have been irresistible to Kol. He had always had a great deal respect and fondness for witches and then someone like you comes along… Ayana's own descendant, a young prodigy. Did he ever see you wield Expression?"

Another memory. Kol Mikaelson on his knees staring up at her with a look of agony and - and yes, _rapture_ \- on his face as Expression possessed her.

Bonnie said nothing, but her darkening blush gave her away.

"Yes, I can imagine how that must have affected him." When she said nothing, Finn grimaced. "My poor brother. He never stood a chance, did he?"

"Y-your poor brother…?"

If he heard the spluttering outrage in her voice, he ignored it. "Are you ever plagued with the knowledge that if you had shown him a little kindness, he might have stayed on the path of redemption?"

A few hours ago, Bonnie would have denied it vehemently. Kol Mikaelson was on no path of redemption. The fact that he was still in Mystic Falls when she returned from the 1994 Prison World, and had not made good on his threat to destroy his family and all the vampires Sired to them, only meant that he hadn't fine-tuned his plans, and nothing more.

But a few hours ago, Bonnie hadn't known how Kol Mikaelson almost died using his new-found magic to save her life when she attempted suicide, alone and abandoned, on her 20th birthday.

Or how her own fiance, and the love of her life, had hidden that from her for five years.

Hidden from her… Or lied?

And what else, Bonnie thought suddenly, had Damon lied about?

" _You and Damon… You were going to betray me… leave me behind!" He was shaking, his shoulders, his hands. His face was streaked with soot, with fury and what Bonnie would have thought was hurt if she hadn't known better._

 _Her own heart, held tight by her will like a fist these past few days of deceit, was finally free to break. She tasted tears in her mouth. "You had the Cure! And the way out of the Prison World all along and you didn't tell me!"_

" _You didn't ask me, Bonnie! You didn't give me a chance to explain!"_

" _Explain what? That you lied to me! You used me!"_

 _He stared at her, his face closed, stony. All trace of his perpetual humor had been completely erased. He looked every inch the unfeeling immortal that he had been for centuries._

" _That you were going to Cure your siblings and kill them? Kill my friends sired to Klaus?"_

 _Silence._

" _Answer me!"_

" _Why?" He said, in a voice as cold and implacable as his face. "You'd already made up your mind when you hatched your little plan with Damon. Already planned to live me here to rot. Now he's gone, and so is your magic. Why the fuck do I owe you an explanation?"_

 _She turned away so he couldn't see her heart breaking on her face. "So it's true then. I'm no longer useful to you so you–"_

" _What's true," and now that coldness was seeped with venom, "is that I'm going to do whatever it takes for me to get out of this Prison World, and if you know what's good for you, you'd better not get in my way."_

Kol had never explained to her why he had the Cure and the spell out of the Prison World, and hidden them all that while.

And now… she would never know.

Something shook inside Bonnie – loss, grief – and she recoiled from it.

No. No matter what else was wrong _at the moment_ between her and Damon, she couldn't think… She couldn't _let_ herself think…

"I was never the custodian of Kol's conscience," she said, and she was relieved to hear her voice sounding stronger, surer than she felt. "If it was so easy for him to go back to his old ways, then maybe he hadn't ever really changed."

"Or maybe being locked up with a half a dozen murderous heretics who turned him into a slave and a blood-bag was enough to break any man," Finn snapped.

Bonnie felt her insides writhe more, remembering some of the things that Nora had confided in her about Kol, and their first days of waking after Bonnie had left him in 1903. How she had been almost wild with hunger when her 'siblings' had woken her up with Kol.

How much self control it had taken them not to eat him alive.

"Kol would have gone back to his old ways, no matter what I did," Bonnie said firmly because she believed it. She _had_ to believe it.

The alternative would drive her mad.

"You are so certain?"

"Of course, I am! So he was so happy to be a witch again, that he did a few nice things? Big deal. He abandoned me in an empty world for months, until I was driven to the point of…" Her voice trailed off.

"The point of what?" Finn asked curiously.

Bonnie swallowed hard, remembering the garage, the smoke, the decision to end her life. Then she lifted her chin - and yet could not quite meet his eyes. "As far as I knew, he was still a threat. I'm not going to apologize for protecting myself - or for getting my revenge."

"Revenge for what exactly? He abandoned you in the Prison World just as you planned to abandon him. You forget that everything that led to you being in the Prison World in the first place - the Other Side collapsing, your year as Anchor - during which he hardly left your side - and your own death - all were a direct result of releasing Silas. An action that even my brother, with all his idiocy, warned you about! An action that you killed him to bring about."

"I never killed Kol!" Bonnie cried.

"You would have, if you had a chance. Answer me this, Bonnie Bennett - was it worth it? Releasing a ripper and her heretics in exchange for your 'revenge' against my brother 'abandoning' you? Everything that happened after that - your doppelganger friend cursed, the massacres in your town, the reign of Rayna Cruz, the Evils unleashed… were they worth the price of your vengeance?"

Bonnie forced herself to calm down, forced the rush of blood pounding through her ears, the charge of anger and fear and guilt that this conversation was rising within her, not to drown her and make her lose control.

"I thought you didn't care for getting Kol back or restoring your family," she said coldly.

"I don't," Finn said simply. "Do not misunderstand me. I do not pity Kol. My brother had a second chance that I never got - a chance to live his full life as a witch, and fulfill the potential that our father, in his misguided wisdom, had robbed us of. Kol had always been talented - I will admit that he was even more talented than me - and with that talent, the knowledge he had amassed across the centuries, and the power that his age gave him, he could have done amazing things. Instead, he squandered it all away for a fixation. If I had the chance that he had…" His voice trailed off, as bitterness filled his face. Then he shook his head slightly, and it cleared. "My brother was foolish and it led to his end. But you would be equally foolish to absolve yourself of all blame of the events of five years ago."

"How dare-"

"You might laugh at my age, Bonnie Bennett and make jokes about history. But it's a universal truth that those who do not learn from it are doomed to repeat it. Before you reached the age of majority, you died how many times? Twice? Thrice? Half a dozen?"

"You are very well informed for a man who's been dead during everything you just told me," Bonnie said through gritted teeth.

"My sister Freya has means of being aware of what almost everything that goes on in the supernatural world. She kept a close eye on every member of our family. And on you because of your lineage."

Bonnie gaped. "Because that isn't creepy at all."

He ignored her sarcasm. "We know, for example, that you and your Damon Salvatore joined the _Sollemne_ at the eleventh hour to ask the Gemini to break the curse on the doppelganger."

It took everything in Bonnie not to give a reaction. She locked her jaw tight and glared at him, unflinchingly even as his words rattled her insides.

"We know, as well, that you are planning some move against the Gemini. Although," he shrugged, "that's less to do with Freya's scrying and more gossip amongst the guests. You've not only been foolish enough to declare the Gemini your enemy, you've done so openly, in their own turf. It's arrogance that only a Bennett witch is capable of."

"There's a compliment inside there somewhere," Bonnie drawled, falling back on Damon's technique of repartee when backed into a corner. "So, thanks, I guess."

Finn scoffed. "Niklaus, in the height of his paranoia and arrogance, never went against the Gemini. Doesn't that tell you something?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Why should it, when you're obviously going to tell me yourself?"

He sighed. "You're being childish again. Childish and foolish, if you think you can go against the Gemini and win. My advice to you-"

"I think I've had enough of your advice, Mr. Mikaelson," Bonnie snapped and stopped dancing.

He hadn't been paying attention but she had, keenly. The song had ended. Before another one could start, she stepped out of his arms, putting a meter of space between them. They stood glaring at each other. They were close to the middle of the dance floor, and curious eyes glanced their way. Bonnie couldn't care less.

"Thanks for the dance," she said curtly.

She turned to walk away - and stumbled when his hand caught her elbow, turning her around.

"Let go…"

"You're a childish, insolent girl with far more power than sense, but for the sake of Ayanna who I adored - I implore your Miss Bennett to listen to sense… Arrgh!"

He yelled, his hand releasing her. He cradled the scarred, but now rapidly healing palm, with his other hand.

"Oops," Bonnie said coolly. "What were saying… more power than sense? The operative word there is 'power'."

She turned on her heel and marched off, leaving Finn Mikaelson gaping behind her. A small crowd had formed around them, and it parted with waves of colourful guests to let her pass.

* * *

Bonnie had barely made it to the edge of the dance floor and the waterfall for a sorely needed drink, when a firm grip closed around her elbow.

She had been man-handled twice in less than five minutes - that was two times too many. She sent another charge into that grip.

She was peeling off his skin with her mind. It should have sent him to his knees. Instead, his eyes narrowed, and she felt the hex… _fizzle_ out of her fingers; and then he was leading her – no, _dragging_ her – to the dance floor.

"Hey," Bonnie yelled, surprised - and not a little alarmed. That _fizzle_ had stung. She tried to get her elbow back, but he held firm. "Hey!"

"May I have this dance?" he all but he snarled when they reached the floor. While she was still gaping at the sheer audacity, he spun her to face him, and his arms locked around her like irons.

Bonnie stared up into the wrathful face of Kai Parker.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she hissed. "Are you trying to make a scene?" She glanced askance at the gaping eyes fixed on them as Kai Parker danced - or more like marched - her across the floor.

"So now you're worried about that? After the little display you just had with Finn Mikaelson? Or earlier with my brother? Or further back with Jeremy Gilbert? Mary Hildegard? Your dance card's been full this evening, _Miss Bennett_."

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie wondered seriously if there was something mentally wrong with him at the moment. "Excuse you, but" - she snuck a quick look about her, then drew nearer to him, dropping her voice to a whisper - "isn't that part of the plan? Me acting like a loose cannon?"

He glared at her for a moment; then, in a swift motion that stole her breath, he yanked her to him. One moment there was a barely respectable distance between them; the next, they were touching from shoulder to knee. Or rather, her shoulders which just hit the top of his chest. There was no room even for Bonnie to struggle, her hands automatically gripping his upper arms to keep herself from losing her balance. She could feel his heat through his suit, his body and magic radiating power that scorched her everywhere she touched him.

"Kai-" she gasped.

"You and I have very different definitions of a loose cannon in this scenario," he said through gritted teeth. He had bent his head so they were almost cheek to cheek, and she could feel every vibration of his harsh whisper on her skin. "My definition was of a woman in mourning, behaving as if the love of her life had just died, and she wasn't sure she was getting him back. I was thinking of someone who acted like if she was about to bring down the walls of my coven about her in vengeance."

"I-"

"Your definition," he continued relentless, and his breath against her ear would have been ticklish if it wasn't already making her insides ache with something hot and dark. She tried, weakly, to get free but his grip on her tightened harder, drawing her impossibly closer to him, "of a loose cannon is apparently that of a woman auditioning her fiance's replacement."

Bonnie's face - no, her entire body - flushed with anger; and with that burst of rage, she broke free of his hold. Her hand was raised and flying before she even realized what she was doing, but he caught it effortlessly, inches from his face.

"What?" he mocked, his eyes all but shooting fire. "Did I strike a nerve?"

Oh, but she wished she could strike him. Strike that mocking contempt smack off his face.

They weren't even pretending to dance anymore. They stood still, frozen like statues, glaring at each other. Her hand in his grip in the space between them.

People were openly staring. She wasn't even sure the music was still playing. Although she wasn't fully aware of anything else beyond the small space they occupied. A whole marching band could have walked past them and neither she nor Kai Parker would have taken their furious eyes off each other.

His words were echoing, pounding in her head, his aura drenching her consciousness with his overpowering presence. Later, it would shock her just how violently, how primal she was reacting to him.

At the moment, she wanted to do nothing more than make him bleed.

"You…" Words failed her.

"What?" he asked, that evil smirk spreading across his face. "Cat got your tongue?"

Later, she would try to tell herself that she had deliberately taken advantage of this moment. But it would be a lie.

Her free hand went into her hair, pulling out the pin. His face, harsh lines and flaring nostrils, seemed to twist into a different kind of darkness as Abby's elegant bun collapsed, Bonnie's hair falling around her face like a cloud. His eyes widened, his pupils dilating as he stared at her.

Those lightning-quick reflexes of him did not see the pin coming until she had driven it through his jacket, buried it into the flesh of his right shoulder, and watched his blood run down her fingers.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** I'm always thankful for reviews. Considering my last question, is it OK if I work on updating Summertime until chapter 25, then make alternate updates with Yibbum?_


End file.
